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TWO     YEARS 

IN    THE 

ilvLONDIKE  AND  ALASKAN  GOLD-FIELDS 

I  ^  Eljrilling  Warratiijc 

t  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCES  AND  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  WONDERFUL 
GOLD    REGIONS    OF    ALASKA    AND    THE    KLONDIKE, 
AVITH  OBSERVATIONS  OF  TRAVEL  AND  EX- 
PLORATION ALONG  THE  YUKON 

PORTRAYING  THE  BANGERS,  HARDSHIPS,  AND  PRIVATIONS  OF  A  GOLD- 
SEEKER'S  LIFE ;  WITH  A  FAITHFUL  DESCRIPTION  OF 

ILtfr  antr  <Sccnr5  in  0olti  IKinrs  anti  Camps 

INCLUDING  FULL  AND  AUTHENTIC   INFORMATION   OF  THE  COUNTRIES 

DESCRIBED,  THEIR  UNDERGROUND  TREASURES, 

HOW  TO  FIND  THEM,  ETC. 


WILLIAM    B.    HASKELL 

fA  Returned  Gold  Miner  and  Prospector) 

BEauti'fiillo  Bhtstratcti 

WITH   MANY  ENGRAVIJfGS  FROM   RECENT    PHOTOGRAPHS  TAKEN  ON   THE   SPOT 


HARTEORD,  CONK. 
HARTFORD    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 

1898 


fn^^- 


vr 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tlie  year  1898 
By  the  Iiartford  Publisbing  Company 

In  the  Office  of  ttie  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


[Wt 


£^^i 


Srom  ^|)eciaf  ^^ofograp^e  ^Oibt  cy^jreBsfg  for  i?>i&  n2?orft,  M\i> 


Along  the  Dyea  TraiI;,       .  .  .      Frontispiece 

A  lone  gold-seeker  crossing  the  Dyea  River  on  his  way  to  the  Gold 
Fields. 

In  Camp  on  the  Dyea  River  after  a  Day's  March, 

Facing        58 

A  Supper  of  Beans  and  Coffee,   .  .  Facing        76 

A  party  of  gold-seekers  eating  their  supper  at  the  entrance  to  Miles 
Canon. 

A    Tired    and    Disgusted    Party    of    Gold-seekers, 

Facing        94 
Looking  for  hotel  accommodations  on  the  Dyea  Trail.      The  signs 
"Hotel,"   "Lodgings,"   "Meals,"  and   so   forth,   indicate  that  these 
accommodations  are  to  be  found  only  in  the  snow-covered  tent. 

A  Dog  Team  on  the  Yukon  River,  .  .  .99 

On  the  way  to  the  Gold  Fields. 

Rafting  down  the  Yukon  River,  .  Facing      116 

The  mining  outfit  of  these  two  Klondikers,  consisting  of  provisions, 
arms,  camp  equipage,  dogs,  and  so  forth,  is  piled  on  to  their  rude  raft. 

A  Long  and  Hard  Journey  over  the  Skagway 

Trail,  .  .  .  .  .  Facing      142 

Entrance  to  the  Canon.     Two  Klondikers  with  heavy  packs  making 
their  way  on  foot  through  the  deep  snow. 

(V) 


^ 


-L268902 


Vi  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE. 

8.  A  Hakd  Place  on  the  Tkail,        .  .  Facing      168 

Packers  transport iiig  the  goods  and  outfits  of  gold-seekers  over  the 
Skagway  Trail. 

9.  On  the  Move,  .....  Facing      186 

A  long  pack  train  of  heavily-loaded  horses  en  route  to  the  Gold  Fields. 

10.  Testing  a  Stream  for  Gold,  .  .  Facing      2U6 

A  gold-seeker  panning  for  gold  in  a  small  creek  in  the  Klondike  Gold 
Region. 

11.  Crossing  the  Skagway  River,  .  .  Facing      234 

The  bridge  consists  of  the  trunk  of  a  single  tree  over  \\hich  two  gold- 
seekers  are  making  their  way.  This  is  only  one  of  many  similar  places 
along  the  trail. 

12.  An  Exciting  Time,         ....  Facing      272 

Arrival  of  the  first  Yukon  steamer  at  Dawson. 

13.  Ready  for  Winter,       .  .  .  Facing      292 

A  wayside  cabin  on  the  Skagway  Trail,  made  of  logs  and  whip-sawed 
boards.    The  chinks  between  the  logs  are  filled  with  mud  and  moss. 

N 

14.  After  a  Day's  March,  .  .  .  Facing      312 

A  party  of  gold-seekers  just  after  pitching  their  tent  on  the  Skag\vay 
Trail. 

15.  Caught  on  the  Trail,  .  .  .  Facing      342 

A  party  of  gold-seekers  who  failed  to  get  over  the  summit  in  the  fall. 
Their  provisions  are  cached  in  the  little  hut  at  the  right.  The  party  win- 
tered here  until  spring  enabled  them  to  continue  their  journey. 

16.  "White  Pass  Hotel"  on  the  Skagway  Trail,  Facing      360 

Contrast  size  of  the  sign  with  that  of  the  "  Hotel."  The  latter  consists 
of  only  a  small  log  hut. 

17.  A   Mid-winter    Camp    at    the    Mouth    op    Skagway 

Canon,   ......  Facing      378 

Tents  afford  the  only  shelter  from  the  heavy  suow'S-and  bitter  cold  of 
an  Arctic  winter. 

18.  Tf>o  Late.     A  Disappointed  Pair  op  Gold-seekers, 

Facing      400 
They  failed  to  reach  their  destination  before  winter  set  in.     Here  they 
cached  their  outfit  and  food  before  returning  to  civilization  to  wait  until 
spring.     The  trunk  of  a  tree  was  erected  as  a  landmark  to  guide  them 
to  the  spot  on  their  return. 

19.  On  the  Border,  ....  Facing      434 

Canadian  mounted  police  collecting  Customs  duty  from  Klondikers 
at  the  point  where  the  Canadian  Government  has  established  a  boundary 
line  at  White  Pass.  The  huge  pile  of  boxes,  bags,  and  goods  of  all  kinds 
belong  to  gold-seekers  en  route  to  the  Gold  Fields. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  VH 

PAGE. 

20.  A    Restaurant    and    its    Proprietor    on    the    Dye  a 

Trail,    ......  Facing      450 

The  sign  "  Meals  "  is  painted  on  the  remains  of  a  pair  of  old  trousers. 

21 .  A  Blockade  on  the  Skagway  Trail,  .  Facing      460 

22.  A    Pack    Train    Crossing    the    Skagway    Trail    in 

Winter,  .....  Facing      468 

23.  Mid-winter  on  the  Trail,      .  .  .  Facing      490 

Tent  of  a  pah-  of  gold-seekers  pitched  by  the  side  of  a  corduroy 
bridge  in  Skagway  Canon. 

24.  A  One-horse  Sledge  Team,    .  .  .  Facing      510 

A  pair  of  gold-seekers  on  their  way  to  the  Gold  Fields. 

25.  Snowed  in.     Waiting  for  Better  Weather,       Facin/j      528 

A  gold-seeker  clad  in  his  parka,  with  dog  and  horse,  near  his  snow- 
covered  tent. 


CHAPTER  I 

MY  BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  LIFE  —  WHAT  LED  ME  TO 
ADOPT  THE  LIFE  OF  A  GOLD-SEEKER  —  WHY  MY 
EYES  WERE  TURNED  TOWARDS  ALASKA. 

Boyhood  on  a  Vermont  Farm  —  Scanty  Rewards  of  Toil  —  Forgetting 
the  Cows  — My  Father  Has  Ambitions  for  Me  — I  Am  Sent  to  School 
but  Am  Negligent  in  Study  —  The  Mystery  of  Inheritance  —  Book 
Knowledge  —  I  Choose  a  Business  Career  in  the  City  —  Behind  a 
Counter  in  a  Dry-goods  Store  —  My  Unhappy  Lot  —  Sighing  for 
the  Great  West  —  Temptation  to  Break  Away  —  It  Finally  Over- 
comes Me  — News  of  Wonderful  Finds  of  Gold  — I  Take  My  Little 
Belongings  and  Arrive  in  Chicago  —  Life  as  a  Brakeman  —  Falling 
in  with  Gold  Miners  —  Something  about  Nuggets — A  Tramp's 
Luck  —  The  Creede  Rush  —  Cripple  Creek  —  Two  Irish  Boys  and 
Their  Mountain  Patch  —  Alaska  for  the  Gold-Seeker,      .        ,        33 


CHAPTER  II 

HO  FOR  ALASKA  !  — EXTENT  OF  OUR  GREAT  TERRITORY- 
GETTING  READY  FOR  THE  START  — OUR  OUTFIT 
AND  WHAT  IT  CONSISTED  OF. 


My  Meager  Ideas  of  the  Territory  —  Joe  Draws  on  His  Store  of  Infor- 
mation—  Vast  Extent  of  the  Country  —  Dull  and  Dirty  Natives  — 

(ix) 


CONTENTS 

A  Race  of  Shirks  — Habits  of  tlio  Dogs  — Navigatiou  of  the  Yukon 
—  Mosquitoes  That  "Kill  Bears "— Story  of  the  Miners'  Search 
for  Gold  on  the  Yukon  —  A  Pioneer  Prospecting  Party  — Some  of 
the  Early  Finds  —  Gold  Everywhere  —  The  Klondike  Moose  Pas- 
ture—  Despised  by  the  Gold-Seekers  —  Coarse  Gold  on  Forty -Mile 
Creek— The  Rise  of  the  Town  —  Sixty  Mile  —  Miller  and  Glacier 
Creeks  —  A  Missionary  Picks  up  a  Nugget  —  Founding  of 
Circle  City  —  My  Partner  Becomes  Impatient  —  Making  Our  Plans 
— ^^We  Proceed  to  San  Francisco  —  Buying  an  Outfit — What  It 
Consisted  of  —  Our  31ediciue  Chest  —  Over  a  Ton  and  a  Half  to 
Carry  —  A  Peep  into  the  Future  —  Ominous  Suggestions,      .        45 


CHAPTEK  III 

CHOOSING  A  ROUTE— OUR  VOYAGE  ALONG  THE  COAST 
—  ARRIVAL  AT  DYE  A  —  FIRST  EXPEREENCE  WITH 
NATIVES. 

Departure  from  San  Francisco  —  Port  Townsend  —  Through  Puget 
Sound  —  Points  of  Interest  and  Beauty  —  A  Gap  in  the  Island  Belt 
—  Few  Moments  of  Seasickness  —  The  Great  Scenic  Region  —  la 
Alaskan  Waters  — Tide  Water  Glaciers  —  Juneau  as  a  Metropolis  — 
A  Glimpse  of  Totem  Poles  —  Indian  Traders  —  The  Mines  of  the 
Vicinity  and  their  Discovery  —  Famous  Tread  well  Mills  —  The 
Largest  in  the  World  —  The  Skagway  and  Dalton  Trails  —  Pro- 
ceeding to  Dyea  —  Dumped  on  the  Beach  —  Getting  Supplies 
Together  and  Beyond  the  Tide  — The  Problem  of  Moving  Ahead  — 
Approached  by  Indian  Packers  —  Dangers  of  Bidding  up  Prices  — 
A  Contract  with  the  Heathen  —  Our  First  Night  in  Camp  —  Dark 
Ways  of  the  Chilkoots, 58 


CONTENTS  XI 

CHAPTER    IV 

LIFE  ON  THE  TRAIL  —  STRANGE  SIGHTS  AND  SCENES  — 
STORM  BOUND  IN  SHEEP  CAMP  — A  WOMAN'S  AD- 
VENTURES AND  EXPERIENCES. 

Along  the  Famous  Dyea  Trail  —  Walking  Twenty  Miles  and  Making 
Four  —  Snow,  Boulders,  and  Glaciers  —Exhibitions  of  Grit  —  Tent- 
ing in  the  Snow  —  A  Democratic  Crowd  —  The  Yukon  Stove  — 
The  So-called  Gridiron  —  Beans  and  Bacon  —  "It  will  be  New  On 
the  Yukon"  —  Asleep  on  a  Bed  of  Boughs  —  What  a  Trail  Consists 
of  —  A  Crack  Two  Miles  Long  —  Pleasant  Camp  —  Sheep  Camp 
and  the  Faint-Hearted  —  A  Discouraged  Man  and  a  Resolute 
Woman  —  Going  Over  Anyhow  —  Not  All  so  Brave  —  Having  a 
Good  Cry  —  My  Theory  as  to  the  Fortitude  of  Some  Women  — 
Throwing  off  the  Fetters  of  Civilization  —  Two  Weeks  of  Storm  — 
]\Ionotony  and  Silence  — An  Active  Glacier  Entertains  Us  — Nature' s 
Untamed  Moods  —  Sunshine  at  Last, 72 

CHAPTER    A' 

THE  DREADED  CHILKOOT  PASS  — HOW  WE  CROSSED  IT 
—  SLIDING  DOWN  THE  MOUNTAINS  AT  LIGHTNING 
SPEED  — "THERE  COMES  A  WOMAN." 

A  Steep  Trail  — Climbing  the  Mountain  Forty  Times  —  Some  of  the 
Difficulties  —  Missteps  that  are  Dangerous  —  Straight  up  over 
Seven  Hundred  Feet  —  An  Obscure  Summit  —  Facilitating  the  Re- 
turn — Trousers  Fortified  with  a  Canvas  Patch  —  A  Slide  in  the 
Trench  —  Tobogganing  Outdone  —  A  Collision  —  Out  of  Sight  in 
the  Deep  Snow—  "  There  Comes  a  Woman  " —  Down  Like  a  Flash 

—  Runaway  Sleds  —  An  Alaskan  Sunburn  —  Snow-blindness  —  A 
Painful  Experience  —  On  the  Summit  at  Last  —  A  Grand  Spectacle 

—  Turning    Sleds    Loose    down   the    Mountain — Bounding    over 
Crater    Lake  —  Lake    Lindeman  —  Observing    the   Timber  —  The 


Xll  CONTENTS 

Irresponsible  Indian  —  Signaling  by  Burning  Trees  —  Ice-sledding 
across  Lindeman  —  Flapjacks  and  Congratulations,        .        .        85 


CHAPTER  YI 

CAMP  LIFE  IN  ALASKA— WE  BUILD  A  BOAT  TO  CONTINUE 
OUR  JOURNEY— ADVENTURES  WITH  BEARS. 

Our  Camp  at  Lake  Tagish  —  Building  a  Boat  —  The  Saw  Pit  —  Pre- 
paring the  Trees  —  Whip-sawing  —  Its  Effect  on  Character  —  An 
Accident  —  Almost  a  Quarrel  —  A  Case  in  Which  Angels  Would 
Lose  their  Amiability  —  Spoiling  the  First  Log  —  "  Work  it  Some- 
how " — The  Dish-Rag  and  the  Dog  —  A  Bargain  —  Adventure  of  a 
New  Yorker  with  a  Bear  and  Three  Cubs  —  An  Excited  3Ian  — 
He  Empties  His  Gun  and  Nearly  Kills  His  Dog  —  I  Lend  Him 
My  Rifle  — The  Bear  Finally  Gives  It  Up  — Catching  the  Cubs  — 
Tough  Hams  —  Our  Triumphant  Return  —  An  Old  Timer's  Bear 
Story  —  Face  to  Face  with  a  Wounded  Bear  —  Playing  Possum  — 
Just  in  Time  —  A  Narrow  Escape, 100 


CHAPTER  YII 

A  DANGEROUS  VOYAGE  — OVERTURNING  OF  OUR  BOAT  — 
LOSS  OF  AN  S800  OUTFIT  — WE  ESCAPE  WITH  OUR 
LRT:S  — HUNTING  FOR  A  CAMP  THIEF. 

We  Name  Our  Boat  the  Tar  Stater  —  More  Handsome  than  Adequate 
—  Drifting  amid  Scenes  of  Wild  Grandeur  —  Magical  Vegetation  — 
Fifty  Mile  River  —  At  the  Mouth  of  the  Caiaon  —  We  Conclude  to 
Pack  Around  —  Several  Boats  Go  Through  —  The  Trail  —  An  Offer 
to  Take  the  Tar  Stater  Through  for  85  —  1  Am  Invited  to  Ride, 
and  Accept  —  A  Quick  Repentance  —  Discarding  Gum  Boots  —  A 
Serious  Catastrophe  —  At  the  Mercy  of  the  Current  —  Clinging  to 
an    Overturned    Boat  —  Over    Again  —  Saved  —  A    Four-Minute 


CONTENTS  Xlll 

Experience  —  The  Milk  is  Spilled  — Loss  of  an  $800  Outfit  — 
Recovering  Our  Boat  —  Towards  White  Horse  Rapids  —  Disap- 
pearance of  the  Sugar  Saved  from  the  Wreck  —  I  Am  Mad  — 
Strapping  on  My  Gun  —  Looking  for  a  Camp  Thief  —  Sympathy 
for  Us  — A  Phase  of  Yukon  Life, 118 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SOME  THRILLING  EXPERIENCES  —  DISCOVERY  OF  THE 
THIEF  — HIS  SUMMARY  PUNISHMENT— PICTURES  BY 
THE  WAY. 

Through  the  White  Horse  Rapids  in  an  Empty  Boat —  Close  Shave  for 
the  Tar  Stater  —  Rough  to  Experience  but  Interesting  to  Watch  — 
Overtaking  Three  Boats —  I  find  the  Sack  of  Sugar  and  the  Thief 
—  Swift  Preparations  for  a  Lynching  Bee — "  Say  the  Word  and  Up 
He  Goes  " —  I  Refuse  — "  Nothing  Less  Than  Fifty  Lashes,  Then  " — 
I  Administer  Them  on  the  Thief's  Bare  Back  — The  Victim  Becomes 
a  Good  Citizen  —  Lake  Lebarge  and  Tagish  Indians  —  Eggs  for  a 
Change  —  In  the  Twilight  of  the  Midnight  —  Nature  in  Her  Great 
Work  —  Cutting  Down  Hills  and  Valleys  —  Where  Eagles  Nest  — 
Twisting  and  Turning  —  Five  Fingers  —  Rink  Rapids  —  Arrival  at 
Fort  Selkirk  —  A  Touch  of  Civilization  —  The  Route  Marked  with 
Graves  of  the  Fallen  —  Reflections  on  the  Journey,        .        .       128 

CHAPTER  IX 

LIFE  ON  A  YUKON  POST  — OUR  FIRST  GLIMPSE  OF  THE 
KLONDIKE  — HOW  MINERS  ADMINISTER  JUSTICE  IN 
ALASKA  — THE  PLAGUE  OF  MOSQUITOES. 

The  Latest  News  —  The  Swift  Yukon  and  Its  Branches  —  The  Upper 
Ramparts — White  River  and  Its  Probable  Sources  — Stewart  River 
and  the  Tales  of  Indians  —  Reports  of  Prospectors  —  Sixty  Mile 


XIV  CONTENTS 

Creek  —  Passing  the  Mouth  of  the  Troan-Dik  or  Klondike  —  Its 
Various  Names  and  How  They  Were  Obtained  —  A  Peep  at  the 
Moose  Pasture  — Moose  Skin  Mountain  —  Old  Fort  Reliance  —  Forty 
Mile  and  Its  Institutions  —  Justice  as  Administered  at  Miners- 
3Ieetings  —  A  Little  German's  Trouble  —  French  Joe's  Experience 

—  A  Tailor  and  His  Bill  — The  Canadian  Police  —  A  Plague  of 
Mosquitoes  —  How  They  Operate  and  How  Their  Bites  Work  — 
Old  Pharaoh's  Troubles  Not  a  Circumstance  —  What  Miners  Suffer 

—  No  Preventive  Sufficient  —  Tough  Miners  Sit  and  Cry  —  3Iore 
Indian  Tales  —  Bears  and  Dogs  in  a  Frenzy  —  Frost  Comes  as  a 
Blessing, 141 


CHAPTER   X 

ARRIVAL  AT  CIRCLE  CITY  — DANCE  HALLS  AND  OTHER 
PLACES  OF  AMUSEMENT  —  THE  YUKON  SLED  — 
ALASKAN  DOGS  AND  THEIR  PECULIARITIES. 

Pushing  on  to  Circle  City  —  Some  of  the  Yukon  Creeks  —  Old  Man 
Rock  and  Old  Woman  Rock  — A  Flight  of  Native  Fancy  — The 
Poor  Man  and  His  Scolding  Wife  —  His  Last  Resort  and  its 
Petrifying  Results  —  Prospecting  American  Creek — Our  Lumber 
Venture  —  A  Thunder  Storm  and  a  Wreck  —  Escaping  on  the 
Tar  Stater  —  Arriving  at  Circle  City  —  Our  Reception  —  Some  of 
the  City's  Institutions — Convenience  of  the  Saloons  —  No  money 
but  Gold  Dust  — How  Purchases  Are  Made  — The  Dance  Halls  — 
The  Relaxation  of  Faro  —  Dogs  Invade  Our  Boat  —  Their  Thieving 
Propensities  —  Faithful  Workers  —  Their  Enormous  and  Indiscrim- 
inating  Appetite  —  Eating  Their  Harness  —  An  Arctic  Turnout  — 
The  Dog  Whip  and  Its  Uses— The  Yukon  Sled—"  Ouk,"  "Arrah," 
and  "Holt," 158 


CONTENTS  XV 

CHAPTER  XI 

GUARDING  AGAINST  EVIL-DOERS  —  LIFE  IN  A  GOLD- 
SEEKER'S  CABIN  — HOW  IT  IS  BUILT  AND  FURNISHED. 

Society  in  Circle  City  —  Cabin  Doors  Open  —  The  Pimishment  of  Evil- 
doers—  Miners'  Meetings  —  Methods  of  Procedure  —  Judge  and 
Jury  —  No  Pistols  —  Our  Money  Runs  Low  —  Joe  Hurries  to  the 
Mines  —  Great  Demand  for  Log  Buildings  —  High  Price  of  Lots  — 
Process  of  Building  a  Cabin  —  Two  Things  to  Remember  —  How 
the  Moss  Comes  into  Play  —  Doors  and  Windows  —  The  Interior 
of  Cabins  —  Rude  Furniture  —  Unique  Beds  —  Something  More 
Substantial  —  The  Yukon  Palace  —  Access  to  the  Second  Story  — 
How  Storm  Sheds  are  Made  —  Tents  Good  Enough  for  People 
with  No  Gold  Dust  —  A  Man  With  an  Axe  a  Skilled  Workman  — 
A  Bustling  Scene  —  Logs  and  Chips  Everywhere  —  An  Ounce  a 
Day  for  Some  Workmen — Dreaming  of  a  Coming  Metropolis  on 
the  Yukon 173 


CHAPTER  XII 

WORK  AND  WAGES  IN  ALASKA  — AGRICULTURAL  POSSI- 
BILITIES IN  THE  ICY  NORTH  —  COST  OF  LIVING. 

Misleading  Rate  of  Wages —  Cost  of  Bringing  Provisions  to  the  Yukon 
Valley  — A  Sample  Price-List  at  a  Circle  City  Store  — Value  of  Fresh 
Meat  —  A  Roast  of  Beef — A  Woman  Who  Baked  Bread  at  a  Dollar 
a  Loaf  —  Fourteen  Loaves  a  Day  on  a  Yukon  Stove  —  Monotony  of 
Diet  —  Ordinary  Laws  of  Agriculture  Upside  Down  —  Difficulties 
of  Raising  Garden  Stuff  —  Plenty  of  Berries  in  the  Summer  —  A 
Dream  of  Agricultural  Possibilities  —  Deceptive  Flatlands  —  Nig- 
gerheads  and  How  They  Grow  —  Grass  That  Makes  Poor  Fodder — 
A  Question  of  Transportation  —  Has  Not  Been  Regarded  as  a  Poor 
Man's  Country  — Competition  in  the  Stores  —  Jack  McQuesten  — 


XVi  CONTENTS 

A  Groat  Night  at  Circle  City  —  Order  of  Yukon  Pioneers  —  Ai 
Indication  of  the  Hardships  of  Alaskan  Life,  .        .        .       183 


CHAPTEK   XIII 

^  WE  REACH  THE  GOLD  DIGGINGS  —  LOCATING  A  CLAIM  — 
HOW  GOLD  IS  MINED  — THE  MINER'S  PAN,  ROCKER, 
AND  SLUICE  BOXES. 

The  Trail  up  Birch  Creek  —  Some  of  the  Gulches  —  Great  Cost  of  Wood 

—  The  Process  of  Placer  Mining  —  How  the  Prospector  AVorks  — 
Testing  the  Dirt  — The  Miner's  Pan  — The  Trick  of  Shaking  Out 
Gold -^  All  the  Fascination  of  Gambling  —  Nature  Holds  the  Cards 

—  Placer  Mining  Conditioned  by  the  Climate  —  The  Old  Process  of 
Sun-Thawing  —  Soil  That  Resists  Picks,  Dynamite,  and  Hydraulics 

—  Where  Fire  Burning  is  Necessary  —  Burning  at  Night  —  A  Long 
Process  —  Sinking  through  the  Muck  —  Rockers  —  Sluices  and 
How  They  are  Constructed  —  Nature  Caught  in  the  Act  —  Claims 
Regulated  by  the  Miners  Themselves  —  The  Birch  Creek  Yield  of 
Gold 199 


CHAPTEK   XIV 

MY  VOYAGE  DOWN  THE  MIGHTY  YUKON  — INCIDENTS 
AND  EXPERIENCES  DURING  THE  TRIP  —  IN  THE 
SHADOW   OF   THE   ARCTIC   CIRCLE. 

Down  the  Yukon  River  —  Yukon  Steamers  —  Flat-Bottoms  and  Stern- 
Wheels  —  Carrying  Machine  Shops  Along  — A  Perfect  Labyrinth  of 
Water —  Going  Wherever  ItsVarying  Moods  Take  It  — Barren  Islands 
—  Fort  Yukon  —  Lazy  and  Filthy  Natives  —  Trading  for  Curios  with 
Yukon  Indians  —  Birch  and  Beaver  Creeks  —  A  Sudden  Change  — 
Out  of  the  Flatlands  into  the  Ramparts  —  Some  Good-Looking 
Creeks  —  The  Munook  —  The  Great  Tanana  River  —  Wooding  Up 


CONTENTS  XVU 

—  Indian  Settlements  —  The  Women  and  Children  —  Dogs  Galore 
— The  Inevitable  Ca(;he  —  Nowikakat  —  Short  Cut  Portages  to  the 
Coast  —  Thrilling  Journey  of  a  Party  of  Miners  —  Almost  Ex- 
hausted and  Starved  —  Perils  of  Traveling  in  Alaska,    .        .      215 


CPIAPTER  XV 

STILL  JOURNEYING  ALONG  THE  DREARY  RIVER  —  SIGHTS 
AND  SCENES  ON  THE  WAY  — HABITS  AND  PECULIAR- 
ITIES OF  THE  INDIANS. 

Holy  Cross  Mission  —  Soap  at  Laet  Has  Legal-Tender  Value  —  Some 
Domestic  Scenes  —  Close  Race  with  the  Climate  —  The  Sisters  of 
St.  Anue  —  Mass  in  a  Log  Church  —  The  Untutored  Innuits  — 
Their  Unpleasant  Environment  —  Queer  Heirlooms  —  Geese  and 
Ducks  Find  a  Favorable  Abode  —  The  Trip  to  the  Coast — ^'St. 
Michael  —  Why  Ocean  Steamers  have  to  Anchor  a  Mile  and  a  Half 
Out  —  Alaska  Commercial  Company  —  Fort  Get-There  —  A  Lone 
Government  Official  —  The  Question  of  Transferring  Cargoes  — 
Characteristics  of  the  Natives  —  Watching  a  Chance  to  Reach 
the  Yukon's  Mouth  —  Difficulties  of  Getting  in  with  a  Load  — 
Breasting  the  Swift  Current  —  A  Hard  Nut  to  Crack  —  Return- 
ing up  the  River, 227 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ARRIVAL  AT  FORTY  MILE  — WONDERFUL  STORIES  OF 
NEW  DIGGINGS  — HO!  FOR  THE  KLONDIKE  !  — MAD 
RUSH  OF  EXCITED  GOLD-SEEKERS. 

Something  Has  Happened  —  Forty  Mile  Almost  Deserted  —  A  Genuine  ■ 
Stampede  —  The   Discovery   on  the  Thron-diuck  or  Klondike  — 
Henderson's  Find  on  Gold  Bottom  —  He  Returns  for  Provisions  — 
Meeting  Cormack's  Fishing  Party  —  He  Tells  of  His  Discovery  — 
2 


'k^ 


■-v 


XVlll  CONTENTS 

Cormack  Concludes  to  Find  Gold  Bottom  —  Over  the  Trail — Re- 
turns to  His  Fishing  Camp  —  Prospects  a  Little  on  His  Way  — 
Stumbles  on  a  Good  Pan  on  Bonanza  Creek —  Claims  for  Himself, 
Tagish  Charlie,  and  Tagish  Jim  —  Siwash  George's  Reputation  for 
Truth  and  Veracity  —  Where  Did  He  Get  the  Gold  ?  —  Tremendous 
Excitement  —  Forty  Mile  Deserted  —  Old  Miners  Lack  Faith  — 
Skim  Diggings  —  Highly- Colored  Tales  —  I  Conclude  to  Go  and 
See  for  Myself  —  Poling  Up  Stream  —  Returning  Prospectors  Shoot 
By  Us — "It's  a  Big  Thing,  Boys "  — Never  Mind  the  Blisters  — 
Tired  and  Footsore  —  A  Lively  Camp  —  Trying  to  Sleep  —  Ten 
Dollars  to  the  Pan, 240 


CHAPTER  XYII 

MY  FIRST  TRAJtIP  IN  THE  KLONDIKE  GOLD  FIELDS  — 
WHAT  A  PLACE  FOR  GOLD  !  —  A  PEEP  INTO  THE 
SLUICE  BOXES  — I  STAKE  A  CLAIM. 

Preparations  for  a  Start  —  Over  the  Mountain  into  the  Swamps  —  A 
Hard  Tramp  —  Cranberries  to  Quench  Thirst  —  A  Mysterious  Pup 
—  The  Klondike  Valley  from  the  Summit  —  Glimpse  of  the  Arctic 
Rockies — "AH  the  Goold  in  the  Worruld" — An  Old  Story  — 
Hurrying  On  —  On  Bonanza  Creek  at  Last  —  Calculating  the  Dis- 
tance—  Blowing  a  Little  —  Looking  for  I^enry  Ward  Beecher  —  A 
Disgusted  Irishman  —  Too  Tired  to  Keep  On  —  A  Look  at  the 
Gravelly  Bar  —  I  form  a  Poor  Opinion  —  Ready  to  Change  My 
Mind  —  Too  Tired  to  Care  —  Forgetting  One's  Name  —  Chilled 
Through  —  Nuggets  Fished  Out  with  a  Shovel  —  Washing  Out 
the  Gold  —  Objects  of  Suspicion  —  Pushing  on  for  a  Claim  — 
Indications  Do  Not  Count  —  I  Stake  My  Claim  —  Starting  Back 
in  the  Rain  —  Over  the  Trail  Again  —  Our  Turn  to  Yell,       .      253 


CONTENTS  XIX 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE    DISCOVERY    OF    ELDORADO  — THE    FOUNDING    OF      ^ 
DAWSON  —  CONFUSION      AND      QUEER      COMPLICA- 
TIONS OVER  CLAIMS —  "  THREE  INCH  WHITE." 

Resting  a  Little  —  Carrying  in  Provisions  —  Promising  Strikes  of  one 
of  the  Pups  —  Eldorado  —  Joining  Another  Stampede  —  A  New 
Metropolis  —  Joseph  Ladue  and  His  Career  —  Mining  in  the  Black 
Hills  —  Attracted  to  Alaska  —  Sinking  Holes  without  Success  — 
Faith  in  the  Country  —  Grub-staking  Henderson — How  Ladue 
Secured  the  Site  for  Dawson — -His  Sawmill  —  The  Mines  in 
October  —  High  Price  of  Lumber  —  Rapid  Growth  of  Dawson  — 
Much  Confusion  as  to  Claims  —  Miners  Appointed  to  Measure  — 
Fractional  Claims  —  How  They  Came  About  —  The  Mystery  of 
the  Rope  —  Hibernian  Bluff  —  Jim  White  and  His  Attempt  to 
Secure  a  Fractional  Claim  —  The  Canadian  Surveyor  Arrives  — 
"Three  Inch  White" — How  Claims  are  Staked  —  The  Fees  and 
the  Requirements, 265 

CHAPTER   XIX 

RICHNESS  OF  THE  KLONDIKE  GOLD  FIELDS  —THE  GREAT     > 
WINTER   EXODUS    FROM    CIRCLE    CITY  — FIRST   RE- 
SULTS  FROM  TESTING  PANS  —  MINERS  WILD  WITH 
EXCITEMENT. 

Realization  of  the  Richness  of  the  Klondike  Claims  —  Why  old  Miners 
were  Skeptical  —  How  Tenderfeet  Suddenly  Became  Rich  —  Selling 
Claims  at  Low  Figures  —  Cutting  Logs  to  Get  Provisions  —  El- 
dorado All  Staked  —  Great  Stroke  for  Some  Men  —  Circle  City 
Skeptical  —  The  First  Big  Pans  —  Excitement  at  Circle  City  —  A 
Mad  Stampede  —  Scarcity  of  Dogs  —  Dogs  at  $2.50  Per  Pound 
—  Some  Big  Strikes  —  Grumbling  Canadians  —  Bed-Rock  on 
Eldorado  —  Lippy's  Bargain  —  Nothing  Like  It  in  the  History 
of  the  World  — Pans  of   Dirt  Worth   Five  Hundred  Dollars  — 


X 


XX  CONTENTS 

The  Miners  Simply  Staggered  —  Mrs.  Berry  Picks  up  $50  in 
Nuggets  While  Calling  Her  Husband  to  Supper — Scarcity  of 
Labor  —  Hunting  up  Claims  —  Gold  Everywhere,  .        .      280 


CHAPTER   XX 

WINTER  IN  THE  KLONDIKE  —  CAMP  LIFE  AND  WORK  — 
A  MINER'S  DOMESTIC  DUTIES  — CHRISTMAS  IN  A 
GOLD-SEEKERS  CAMP. 

Dreariness  of  Camp  Life  —  Preparations  for  Winter  —  Cut  Off  from 
the  World  —  Even  Labels  Make  Interesting  Reading  Matter  —  The 
Only  Library  in  the  Camp  —  A  Few  Old  Newspapers  —  Nuggets 
for  the  Benefactor  —  Joe  Arrives  from  Circle  City  —  Gold,  Gold 
the  one  Topic  of  Interest  —  Forgetting  the  Day  of  the  Month  — 
Domestic  Duties  —  How  We  Kept  House  —  Things  That  Must  Not 
Be  Neglected  —  A  Remedy  that  Kills  or  Cures  —  My  Bread  and 
Biscuit  —  A  New  Recipe  —  Exorbitant  Prices  for  Necessaries  of 
Life  —  Some  of  the  Other  Expenses  —  A  Trip  to  Dawson  —  A  Bit 
of  Recreation  —  Christmas  in  Camp  —  Story  of  a  Christmas  at  Fort 
Cudahy  —  No  Turkey  or  Plum  Pudding  —  A  Klondike  Christmas 
—  Presents  for  the  Half-Breeds  —  How  Toys  were  Obtained — A 
Scene  of  Merriment  —  A  Yukon  Santa  Claus  —  First  Christmas 
Party  on  the  Klondike, 291 


CHAPTER   XXI 

ALASKAN  WEATHER  — ON  THE  VERGE  OF  STARVATION- 
HOW  WE  PULLED  THROUGH  — DANGERS  OF  WINTER 
TRAVELING—  PAINFUL  EXPERIENCES. 

The  Paradox  of  Alaskan  Weather  —  A  Difference  in  Humidity  — 
Miners' Thermometers  —  Time  to  Take  Care  of  One's  self  —  Seventy- 
two  Degrees  below  Zero  —  Sunset  and  Sunrise  —  Dangers  on  the 


CONTENTS  XXI 

Trail  — We  Discard  the  Hut  and  Take  to  the  Tent  — Building 
Fires  in  the  Morning  —  Hearing  One's  Breath  Strike  the  Air — An 
Involuntary  Bath  —  Paiul'ul  Experiences  —  Eyelids  Freeze  To- 
gether—  Protection  against  the  Bitter  Cold  —  The  Parka  and  Its 
Uses  — An  Alaskan  Opera  Cloak  — As  a  Frost  Protector  —  Care  of  the 
Feet  —  Snow  Shoes  —  Shortage  in  the  Food  Supply  —  How  it  Seems 
to  be  without  Salt  —  Sold  for  Its  Weight  in  Gold  — The  Pulling- 
Through  Process  —  Northern  Lights  as  a  Compensation  for  a  Win- 
ter in  Alaska  —  Tlieir  Brilliancy, 305 


CHAPTER  XXII 

PREPARING  FOR  SLUICING  — THE  SPRING  "CLEAN-UP"— 
ASTONISHING  RESULTS  WHEN  DIRT  WAS  WASHED 
OUT  — SOME  LUCKY  STRIKES  — THE  ROMANCE  OF 
FORTUNE. 

Joe  and  I  Have  Poor  Luck  —  Trying  to  Locate  the  Pay-Streak  —  Big 
Pans  in  March  and  April  —  Pay-Dirt  —  How  the  Value  of  the  Dirt 
is  Reckoned  —  Old  Miners  Begin  to  Speculate  —  Expense  of  Getting 
Sluice  Boxes  —  Some  of  the  Fortunes  —  Berry  and  His  Wonderful 
Strike  —  Very  Blue  when  He  Heard  of  the  Klondike  — Takes  Out 
$130,000  — A  Bird  in  the  Hand  vs.  a  Bird  in  the  Bush  —  A  Wiscon- 
sin Schoolmaster's  Experience  — Worth  a  Million  —  Better  than 
Trading  — Sudden  Rise  in  the  Value  of  Claims — Computing  the 
Value  of  a  Bonanza  Claim  —  Wonderful  Results  — The  Aggregate 
Amount  of  the  Spring  Work  —  Some  of  the  Lucky  Ones  on  El- 
dorado Creek  —  Fortunes  on  the  Bonanza  —  Lucky  Days — "  What 
AVill  I  Do  With  All  That  Money  V " 318 


XXll  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

STORIES  OF  GREAT  HARDSHIPS  AND  SCANTY  REWARDS 

—  A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  KLONDIKE  — CLAIM  JUMPERS  — 
AN  OLD  SLAVE'S  LUCKY  STRIKE. 

Gold  by  the  Ton  —  The  Unfortunate  Ones  —  Alaska  Mining  a  Lottery 

—  Deceptive  Placers  —  Weary  Men  Who  Show  No  Nuggets  —  Ex- 
perience of  an  Old  Scotchman  —  Mining  for  Forty -Two  Years  — 
A  "  Homestake  "  at  Last  —  Poor  Luck  Still  Followed  Him  — 
Others  Less  Fortunate  —  Feeling  of  the  Old  Miners  When  They 
Saw  the  Teuderfeet  Taking  Out  Gold  —  A  Little  too  Much  — 
Hardships  of  a  Miner  —  His  First  Good  Luck  —  Neal  McArthur 
and  His  Narrow  Escapes  —  Scarcely  Making  a  Living — Catching 
at  a  Straw  —  Hard  Conditions  of  a  Prospector's  Life  —  Troubles 
after  Gold  is  Found  —  The  Massachusetts  Man  and  His  "Boy"  — 
Threatened  by  Claim- Jumpers  — The  Old  Man  Shot  — The  Boy 
Handles  the  Gun  and  Turns  Out  to  Be  a  Pretty  Girl  —  A  Heroic 
Act  —  Queer  People  —  An  Old  Slave  from  down  in  Georgia  —  His 
Lucky  Strike, '  ....      328 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

INCIDENTS   OF  THE    TRAIL  — DEATH  AND   BURIAL  OF  A 
BABY  — A  WOMAN'S  THRILLING  EXPERIENCES. 

News  of  the  Outside  World  —  When  the  Ice  Goes  Out  of  the  River  — 
It  "Marks  Time"  —  An  Unpleasant  Sight  for  a  Hungry  j\Ian  — 
Grub  at  Last  —  Happy  Incident  of  a  Yukon  Honeymoon  —  Mrs. 
McKay's  Story  —  Death  of  a  Baby  —  The  Little  Casket  and  the 
Grave  by  Lake  Lindeman  —  Misfortunes  of  John  Matthews  —  His 
Troubles  Over  —  Impression  of  the  Trail  —  Strong  Men  Dismayed 
at  the  Outlook  — Trying  to  Look  Cheerful  —  Learning  of  the 
Klondike  Discoveries  —  Taken  for  a  Man  — Over  the  Summit  — 
Ravenous  Appetites  of  the  Men  —  Through  the  Canon  and  the 


CONTENTS  XXIU 

Rapids  —  A  "Woman's  Experience  —  Clinging  to  the  Boat  in  Terror 
— In  the  Presence  of  Death  —  Quick  Decisions  of  Gold-Seekers  — 
Many  Unfit  for  Work  in  Alaska  —  The  Situation  Facing  the 
Tenderfoot  — Where  Shall  He  Find  Gold?  — "Did  You  Take 
This  for  a  Picnic?" 338 

CHAPTEK  XXV 

THE  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  MONEY-MAKING  IN  ALASKA 
—  THE  COSTLY  EXPERIENCE  OF  TWO  TENDER- 
FEET  —  APPALLING  PRICE  OF  A  SUPPER  — A  HORSE 
MISSING  WITH  §49,000  IN  GOLD. 

A  Cit}^  Laid  out  on  a  Bog  —  Natural  Floral  Displays  —  Lousetown  — 
A  Cold  Place  in  Winter  —  Fabulous  Rise  in  the  Price  of  Building 
Lots  —  Expense  of  Log  Cabins  —  Making  Money  Quickly  —  Expe- 
rience of  a  Cigar  Drummer  —  Clearing  §20,000  in  Twenty  Days  in 
Real  Estate  Options  —  Better  than  Mining  —  Spring  Water  at  Twen- 
ty-five cents  a  Pail  —  Money  Brought  in  by  New  Comers  —  Bonanza 
Kings  and  Millionaires  —  Alec  McDonald  and  His  Investments  — 
"  Satin  Bags,"  the  Italian  Bonanza  King  —  Indulging  in  a  Square 
Meal  at  a  Dawson  Restaurant  —  "  Your  Bill  is  §52  "  — How  it  was 
Itemized  —  Pack  Horses  with  Gold  Dust  —  One  of  the  Horses 
Missing  —  An  Exciting  Mystery  —  A  Vision  of  Highway  Robbers  — 
The  Lost  Horse  Returns  Safely  —  Just  Stopped  to  Graze  —  Found 
Dead  with  $30,000  —  The  Strain  of  Too  Hard  Work,    .        .      354 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

DAWSON     AND     ITS     INIQUITIES  —  GAMBLING     PLACES,     ^ 
THEIR  DEVICES  AND  THEIR  WAYS  — NIGHT  SCENES 
IN  THE  DANCE  HALLS  —  REAL  LIFE  IN  NEW  MINING 
CAMPS. 

Saloons  and  Gambling  the  Natural  Products  of  New  Mining  Camps  — 
Strange   Sights   and    Sounds  — Gold   Dust  as   Free  as  Water  — 


XXIV  CONTENTS 

Saloous  aud  Tlieir  ' '  Brace  Games  "  —  Who  Pay  the  Fiddlers  — 
Expeusive  Society  —  "  Stiid-Horse  Poker"  and  High  Stakes  — 
Methods  at  the  Faro  Table  —  Gold  Bags  in  Pigeon  Holes  —  Settling 
Up — "Shorty's"  Fatal  Forgetfulness  —  Few  Instances  of  Shoot- 
ing Now — Ruling  Prices  in  Saloons  —  The  "Rake  Off"— When 
"Swiftwater  Bill"  Breaks  Loose  —  Losing  $7,500  in  an  Hour  — 
Appearance  of  Gambling  Places  —  The  Dance  Halls  and  the 
Women  —  Gallant  Partners  in  Spiked  Boots  —  An  Occasional  Free 
Fight  —  Tobacco-Laden  Atmosphere  —  Tired  and  Dishevelled 
Women  —  More  Orderly  than  Mining  Camps  in  the  Rockies  — 
Not  a  Hard,  Reckless,  Wide-Open  Town  —  Harvard,  Yale,  and 
Vassar  Graduates, 370 


CHAPTER  XXVIl 

A  REFUGE  FOR  CRIMINALS  — THE  MINES  MORE  PROF- 
ITABLE THAN  SPORTING  DEVICES  — PURSUING  A 
FUGITIVE  — A  CHASE  OF  25,000  MILES  FOR  AN  ES- 
CAPED  MURDERER. 

Too  Many  Sports  for  the  Demand  —  The  Arrest  of  Frank  Novak,  the 
Murderer  —  History  of  His  Crime  —  Enticing  an  Irish  Farmer  to 
His  Death  —  Searching  for  Novak  —  The  Wrong  Man  Arrested  — 
Another  Clue  —  It  Takes  the  Detective  to  Vancouver  —  Searching 
Resorts  on  the  Coast  —  Every  Ship's  Crew  Questioned  —  Requisi- 
tion on  the  Governor  of  Alaska  —  Gone  to  the  Klondike  —  Extradi- 
tion Papers  from  Washington  —  Taken  to  Ottawa  —  Over  the 
Chilkoot  in  Pursuit  — Passing  the  Fugitive  without  Suspecting 
Him  —  The  Pursued  Follows  the  Pursuer  —  Arrival  at  Dawson  — 
Searching  the  Camps  —  Giving  it  Up  —  Arrest  of  the  Murderer  — 
Returning  by  the  Yukon  —  A  Chase  of  25,000  Miles,     .        .       382 


CONTENTS  XXV 

CHAPTER  XXVIII  ^ 

WOMEN  IN  THE  KLONDIKE  — SOME  ROMANTIC  STORIES 
—  EXPERIENCE  OF  A  WOMAN  ON  THE  TRAIL  — 
HOW  WOMEN  HAVE  MADE  FORTUNES. 

A  Little  Home  Life  —  Two  White  Women  in  Camp  the  First  Winter  — 
Mrs.  Lippy  the  Pioneer  —  Mrs.  Berry's  Story  of  Her  Journey  —  Be- 
ginning to  Despair  —  Starting  for  the  Klondike  —  A  Cabin  Unfit  to 
Live  In  —  Picking  Up  Nuggets  of  Gold  —  Wading  in  Mud  Waist 
Deep  —  Housekeeping  No  Joke  —  Arrival  of  a  Plucky  Little 
Wife  —  Makes  Her  Home  on  a  Scow  —  On  Terra  Firma  at  Last  — 
An  Eye  to  Business  —  One  Hundred  Dollars  a  Month  for  Caring 
for  Two  Children  —  In  Doubt  as  to  the  Day  of  the  Week  —  Dogs 
and  Mosquitoes,  "but  the  Gold 's  all  Right  "  —  Romantic  Career  of 
a  Woman  —  Joins  the  Stampede  from  Circle  City  —  Cooking 
for  $15  a  Day  —  Facing  Claim-Jumpers  —  Making  $12,000  in  a  Few 
Weeks  —  Opportunities  to  Marry  Rich  Husbands  —  Gallantry  of 
the  Men  —  What  a  Woman  Should  Wear,       ....      392 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

A  SEASON  OF  WILD  STAMPEDES  —  THE  CURIOUS  CON- 
DITIONS ON  SKOOKUM  GULCH  — NEW  WONDERS 
IN  ALASKA  DISTRICT  — MY  NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM 
DEATH. 

Spreading  Out  Over  the  Wild  Country  —  Stampedes  a  Daily  Occur- 
rence—  How  they  were  Started  —  Enterprise  of  an  Exhausted 
Party  —  Returning  from  One  Rush  Only  to  Fall  in  with  Another  — 
The  Astounding  Results  on  Hunker  Creek  —  Sudden  Rise  of  Skoo- 
kum  Gulch  —  How  it  was  Discovered  —  Kicking  Over  Boulders 
and  Finding  Gold  —  Bench  Claims  —  Strike  on  Dominion  Creek  — 
An  Old  German's  Good  Luck  on  Sulphur  Creek  —  Endeavoring  to 
Keep  it  Quiet  —  The  News  Leaks  Out — Another  Great  Stampede — 
Joe  and  I  Conclude  to  See  for  Ourselves  —  A  Misstep  and  a  Drench- 


XXVI  CONTENTS 

iug  in  Ice  Water — lDi""ed  aud  Exhausted  —  A  Bliudiug  Storm  — 
"Oh,  for  a  Little  Meat" — Joe  Starts  to  Hunt  for  a  Moose  — 
Returns  and  Finds  Me  Helpless — "I  Guess  I'm  Done  For" — A 
Long  Night  and  Day  —  Walking  in  a  Circle  —  I  Revive  on  Moose 
Broth — My  Last  Prospecting  Trip, 407 

CHAPTEK  XXX 

STAMPEDERS     WHO     NEGLECTED    TO     RECORD     CLAIMS 

—  CREEKS  TOO  NUMEROUS  TO  REMEMBER  — POS- 
SIBILITIES OF  OTHER  DISTRICTS  —  NEW  GOLD 
FIELDS. 

Midnight  Rush  to  Montana  Creek —  Staking  by  Torchlight  —  A  Pugil- 
ist on  Hand  —  Locaters  Rested  after  Their  Journey  —  Their  Stakes 
Stealthily  Removed  and  Others  Substituted  —  The  First  to  Record 
Takes  the  Claim  —  Great  Stampede  to  All  Gold  Creek  —  The 
Rush  for  Bryant  Creek — Intended  to  be  Named  for  William  J.  Bryan 
—  Result  of  the  Slip  of  the  Pen  —  Neglecting  to  Record  for  Fear 
Something  Better  Would  be  Found — Tenderfeet  Frozen  Out  — 
Waiting  Three  Days  to  Reach  the  Gold  Commissioner  —  The 
Country  Staked  for  a  Hundred  Miles  Around  —  Frauds  Perpe- 
trated—  Impossibility  for  the  Officers  to  Measure  Claims  during 
the  Wild  Stampedes  —  Wild  Race  down  the  Frozen  Yukon  to 
Buy  a  Claim  —  Old  Miners'  Belief  in  Stewart  River  —  Gold  Found 
Everywhere  —  Difficulties  of  Prospecting  on  the  Stewart  —  Some 
of  the  Gold-Bearing  Creeks  Which  May  Be  Heard  From  —  In  the 
Same  Belt  as  the  Klondike, 420 

CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE     GOVERNMENT     OF    THE    KLONDIKE  — THE     CANA- 
DIAN MOUNTED  POLICE— CANADIAN  REGULATIONS 

—  MAILS  THROWN  AWAY  ON  THE  TRAIL  — A  QUES- 
TION   OF  LIFE   OR  DEATH. 

Attention  Paid  the  Yukon  District  by  Canadian  Government  after 
Gold  Discoveries  —  Concerned  Over  Loss  of  Revenue  —  Detach- 


CONTENTS  XXVll 

ment  of  Police  Sent  Iq  —  When  the  Organization  was  Formed  — 
Its  Principal  Features  —  Officers  and  Constables  —  The  Yukon 
Territory  —  Powers  of  the  Gold  Commissioner  —  His  Word  Final 
in  All  Cases  as  to  Claims  —  Experience  of  a  Seattle  Man  —  How  a 
Double  Sale  was  Quickly  Untangled  —  Government  Rights  over 
the  Yukon  Region  —  The  Proposed  Royalty  —  Indignation  of  the 
Miners  —  A  Meeting  and  a  Protest  —  Possibilities  of  Trouble  — 
Uncertainty  of  the  Mails  —  Difficulties  of  a  Carrier  —  Mail  Matter 
Taken  by  Returning  Miners  and  Thrown  Away  on  the  Trail  —  A 
Matter  of  Life  or  Death, 431 


OHAPTEE  XXXII 

THE  SUDDEN  RISE  AND  MAGICAL  EXPANSION  OF 
SKAG  WAY  —  CURIOUS  SIGNS  FOR  THRIVING  EN- 
TERPRISES—THE DEBATING  SOCIETY  IN  MRS. 
MALONEY'S   BOARDING  TENT. 

Seeking  an  Easier  Pass  than  the  Chilkoot — Why  Gold-Seekers  Began 
to  Stop  at  Skagway  —  A  Peaceful  Scene  in  July  —  The  Original 
Promoters  Quickly  Overwhelmed  —  A  Thousand  Tents  and  a 
Thousand  Pack  Animals  —  Organizing  the  Town  —  Marvelous 
Real  Estate  Business  —  How  a  Hotel  Keeper  Announced  His 
Facilities  —  A  More  Modest  Announcement — "Any  Old  Thing 
Bought  and  Sold  "  —  Tons  of  Provisions  Scattered  on  the  Beach  — 
Saloons  and  Dance  Halls  —  An  Opening  Night  —  The  Symbol  of 
Law  and  Order  —  Herds  of  Gambling  Men  —  "  An  Easy  Graft  "  — 
Greenhorns  at  Packing  —  Runaway  Animals  —  Many  Ludicrous 
Scenes  —  The  Serious  Side  —  A  Clergyman's  Observations  —  The 
Part  tlie  Women  Played  —  Widow  Maloney's  Debating  Society  — 
Respect  for  the  Chair  —  Debating  the  Merits  of  Armies  of  the 
World  —  Some  Race  Feeling  —  Mrs.  Maloney  Does  Not  Permit 
Abuse  of  "  Ould  Ireland"  —  A  Hundred  Days  of  Growth  — 
"  Biggest  "  Town  in  Alaska 446 


XXVUl  CONTENTS 

1 

CHAPTER  XXXIII 

DIFFICULTIES  AND  HORRORS  OF  THE  SKAGWAY  TRAIL 
—  PRECIPICES  OVER  WHICH  HORSES  TUMBLED  — 
A  LIFE  FOR  A  SACK  OF  FLOUR  AND  A  LITTLE 
BACON. 

Au  Impassable  Trail  —  The  Blockade  —  Stories  Brought  to  Dawson  — 
Principal  Features  of  the  White  Pass  Route  —  Slippery  Places  for 
Horses  —  Over  Precipices  into  the  River  —  Porcupine  Hill  — 
Where  Most  of  the  Horses  Were  Lost  —  The  Sight  of  a  Life  Time — 
Death  on  Summit  Lake  —  Efforts  to  Open  the  Trail  —  All  Kinds 
of  Pack  Animals  —  Scarcity  of  Fodder  —  Selling  Hay  and  Throw- 
ing in  the  Horses  —  The  Big  Marsh  —  Floundering  in  tlie  Mud  — 
Thieving  on  the  Trail  —  Looking  for  Pierre,  the  Frenchman  — 
Discovered  with  Stolen  Goods —  Appealing  to  Hearts  of  Stone  — 
Six  Shots  Sounding  as  One  —  The  Limp  Form  of  a  Thief  Hanging 
bj'  the  Wayside  —  A  Heap  of  Stones  Cast  on  the  Body  —  Chances 
to  Make  Money  on  the  Trail, 459 

CHAPTER   XXXIV 

THREATENED  FAMINE  —  STORES  OF  THE  TRADING  COM- 
PANIES CLOSED  — STEAMBOATS  STUCK  ON  THE 
YUKON  FLATS  — THE  PERILOUS  SITUATION  REAL- 
IZED. 

Miners  Hasten  to  Secure  Provisions  —  Companies  Fear  Speculation  in 
Food  —  Eggs  at  $4  a  Dozen  —  Good  Mining  Claims  Traded  for 
Provisions  —  Candles  at  a  Dollar  Apiece  —  Waiting  Three  Hours  to 
File  an  Order  —  The  Trading  Companies  Confer  —  Doling  Out 
Provisions — The  Steamboats  near  Fort  Yukon  —  Fruitless  Efforts 
to  Get  over  the  Bar  —  Captain  Hansen's  Efforts — Returning  to 
Dawson — Watching  the  River  for  the  Steamboats — The  Situation 
Realized — Plenty  of  Whisky,  but  Little  to  Eat — Police  without 
Supplies  —  The  Warehouses  Threatened  —  Police  Contemplate  the 


CONTENTS  XXIX 

Necessity  of  Seizing  Provisions  —  Fancy  Prices  for  Dogs  —  Mine 
Owners  Threatened  by  Failure  to  Pay  Debts,        .        .        .      476 


CHAPTEK   XXXV 

THE  GREAT  EXODUS  FROM  DAWSON  — DOWN  THE 
RIVER  TO  CIRCLE  CITY  AND  FORT  YUKON  —  SAD 
FATE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  EXILES  — A  BURIAL  UNDER 
THE   ARCTIC   SKY. 

A  Great  Day  iu  Dawson  —  Drawing  Lots  to  Determine  Wlio  Should 
Go — The  Restaurants  All  Closed  —  Effort  to  Go  Up  the  River 
Thirty-five  Miles  in  Seven  Days  —  The  Party  Finally  Returns  — 
People  Pouring  iu  While  Others  Were  Pouring  out  —  Arriving 
With  AVorthless  Outfits  or  None  at  All  —  Swept  By  Dawson  iu  the 
Running  Ice  —  Petty  Larceny  Becomes  Frequent  —  Food  Scarce  at 
Circle  City  —  Men  Arrive  from  Circle  City  Badly  Frozen  —  Suffer- 
ing on  the  River  —  Exiles  Badly  Frozen  —  Sad  Fate  of  Young 
Anderson  —  Wounded,  His  Friends  Dragged  Him  on  a  Rude 
Sled  —  Dying  within  Sight  of  Circle  City  —  Thawing  an  Arctic 
Grave  —  The  Funeral  —  Extracts  from  His  Diary — Strong  Miners 
Weep  —  The  Scarcity  of  Supplies  —  A  Restaurant  Price  List — A 
Fresh  Supply  of  Caribou  Meat  —  Curtailing  the  Work  on  the 
Mines  — Those  Left  Pull  Through, 486 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

DISCOVERY  OF  GOLD  ON  MUNOOK  CREEK  — THE  SUD- 
DEN RISE  OF  RAMPART  CITY  —  THRILLING  EX- 
PERIENCE AND  LOSS  OF  LIFE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN 
TRAIL. 

A  Rival  to  Dawson  and  the  Klondike  —  American  Territory  Preferable 
—  Old  Munook  and  Little  Munook  —  Taking  a  Fortune  from  a 
Small  Hole  —  Stream  Prospected  Before  —  The  First  Excitement — 


y 


XXX  CONTENTS 

Stampedes  from  the  Arriving  Steamboats  —  Beginnings  of  Ram- 
part City  —  Arrival  of  the  Hamilton  —  Crew  Stampedes  and  Takes 
the  Knives  and  Forks  —  A  Literary  Woman's  Rush  for  a  Claim  — 
Settling  in  the  New  Camp  —  High  Prices  for  Claims  — Taking 
out  $1,500  in  Five  Days  —  The  Fever  of  Speculation  —  Wealth  of 
a  Man  with  a  House  and  Lot  —  High  Price  of  Timber  —  The 
Rough  Trails  —  Fatal  Experience  of  Two  Yale  Graduates  — 
Spending  the  First  Night  on  Hoosier  Creek  —  Taking  Food  for 
Only  One  Day  —  A  Terrible  Night  —  Tucker  Falls  Exhausted  — 
Running  for  Help  —  Secured  at  Last  —  Returning  to  Find  His 
Companion  Dead  —  Buried  in  the  Wild  Gulch — Situation  of 
Munook  — High  Value  of  Its  Gold 496 


CHAPTEK  XXXVII 

WE  DECIDE  TO  LEAVE  THE  COUNTRY  —  INCIDENTS  OF 
A  HARD  JOURNEY  IN  WINTER  TO  THE  COAST  — 
THE   DEATH  OF  JOE  — MY   ESCAPE. 

Preparing  for  the  Winter  —  Our  Gold  Dust  —  Returning  to  Dawson 
We  Realize  the  Food  Situation  —  We  are  Unable  to  Secure  Pro- 
visions for  the  Winter  —  Selling  Our  Claims  and  Counting  Our 
Fortune  —  Down  or  Up  the  River  ?  —  We  Decide  to  Return  for 
a  Good  Outfit — Dogs  an  Expensive  Luxury  —  Encountering 
Wrecks  —  Difficulties  at  Lewis  River  —  Picking  up  Tales  of 
Hardship  and  Suffering  —  Hardships  of  a  Man  with  Poor  Dogs  — 
A  Young  Man  with  Frozen  Feet  Left  to  Die  in  a  Hut  —  A  Young 
Woman  Rescued  from  Death  —  Lashed  to  a  Sled  —  We  Arrive  at 
the  Canon  —  A  Cry  from  Joe  —  Into  the  Icy  Rapids  —  Last  of 
Poor  Joe  —  I  Sit  Down  and  Cry  —  My  Awful  Predicament  —  Pro- 
visions, but  Nothing  Else  —  A  Sad  and  Lonely  Journey  —  A  Tent 
Buried  in  the  Snow  —  Saved!  —  "  Got  Anj^  Grub  ?  "  — Kicking  the 
Dogs  out  of  the  Snow  —  Over  the  Chilkoot  in  a  Blizzard  — 
Homeward  Bound — "Poor  Joe!"         .....       SO.') 


CONTENTS  XXXI 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

THE    GREAT    RUSH    TO    THE    KLONDIKE    AND    ALASKA 

—  EXCITEMENT     ALL     OVER    THE     WORLD  — PREP- 
ARATION FOR  A  QUARTER   OF  A  MILLION  PEOPLE 

—  WHAT  IT  WILL  MEAN  IF  ALL  BECOME  RICH. 

At  Seattle  —  The  Stampede  of  1898  —  Nothing  to  Compare  with  It  — 
The  Days  of  '49  Eclipsed  —  Transportation  Engaged  in  Advance  — 
Fitting  Up  Vessels  to  Accommodate  the  Trade  —  "  Klondicitis  "  — 
The  Topic  of  Conversation  Everywhere  —  Preparing  Outfits  — 
Returning  Klondikers  Besieged  —  Women  and  Children  Have  the 
Fever  —  Old  Gold-Seekers  Aroused  —  All  Sorts  of  Men  Join  in 
the  Rush  —  Great  Exodus  from  California  —  Associations  of 
Women  —  Gold  Dust  on  Exhibition — The  Craze  Reaches  Jerusa- 
lem—  A  Quarter  of  a  Million  of  People  —  How  It  Appeared  to 
a  Returned  Klondiker  —  All  After  Gold  —  Money  Spent  for  Out- 
fits—What It  May  Mean  —  Doubling  the  Gold  Production 
in  a  Single  Year  —  If  All  Make  Fortunes  Gold  Will  Become 
Cheap, 519 

CHAPTER  XXXIX 

RESOURCES  OF  THE  YUKON  VALLEY  —  POSSIBILITIES 
OF  QUARTZ  MINING  — COOK  INLET,  UNGA  ISLAND 
AND  COPPER  RIVER  — THE  FUTURE  OF  ALASKA. 

Waiting  for  More  Thorough  Prospects  —  Comparative  Smallnessof  the 
Klondike  District  —  Room  for  a  Million  to  be  Lost  in  —  The  Klon- 
dike all  Located  —  The  Government's  Gold  Map  —  Traces  of  Gold 
Everywhere  —  Most  of  Alaska  Unexplored  —  Some  Comparisons 
with  Early  Production  in  California  —  Difference  in  Conditions  — 
Obstacles  to  be  Overcome  —  Possibly  a  Dozen  Klondikes  —  Induce- 
ments for  Quartz  Mining  —  A  Belt  of  Rich  Rock  Thousands  of 
Miles  Long  —  The  Quartz  Mines  of  Unga  Island  —  A  String  of 


XXXll  CONTENTS 

Islands  that  ]May  bo  Rich  in  Gold  — A  Test  of  Klondike  Quartz  — 
Credit  for  the  First  Diseovery  —  Cook  Inlet  and  Its  Mines  —  The 
Benefit  of  Waiting  a  Little  Longer  —  The  Copper  River  Country  — 
Stories  of  Rich  Diggings  —  Friendly  Indians  with  Mineral  AVealth 
—Points  of  Distribution  —  Unforeseen  Results  of  Our  Purchase  of 
Alaska  — Its  Future 534 


CHAPTER  XL 

ADVICE  TO  GOLD-SEEKERS  —  THE  IMPORTANCE  OF 
HAVING  A  GOOD  OUTFIT  —  POINTS  TO  BE  RE- 
MEMBERED—WHAT TO  DO  AND  WHAT  NOT  TO 
DO. 

Some  Advantages  in  Not  Being  in  a  Hurry  —  Not  a  Poor  Man's  Country 

—  Good  Advice  from  a  United  States  Government  Expert  —  A 
Place  for  Strong  Men  and  Those  Who  Can  Afford  to  Lose  — 
Expenses  Which  Have  to  Be  Met  —  The  Cost  of  Cabins  and  Facili- 
ties for  Working  Mines  —  One  Thousand  Dollars  for  Sluice  Boxes 

—  The  Advantage  of  Having  Partners  —  Unv\ise  to  Take  Less 
Than  a  Year's  Outfit  —  Suicide  Cheaper  in  Lower  Latitudes  —  It 
Takes  a  Week  to  Dig  a  Grave  —  Times  When  Every  Man  Looks 
the  Picture  of  Distress  —  Sail  North  Only,  in  Good  Vessels  —  How 
to  Mark  Packages  —  Trunks  an  Inconvenience  —  Sugar  and  Salt  as 
Hard  as  Quartz  —  Tobacco  as  Good  as  Money  on  the  Yukon  —  As 
to  Furs  —  Shot  Guns  Better  Than  Revolvers  —  Jack  Dalton's  Rules 
for  the  Trail  —  Possibilities  of  Lo.siug  a  Toe  or  a  Foot,  .       548 


TWO  YEAliS 

IN 

THE  KLONDIKE  AND  ALASIvAN 
GOLD  FIELDS 


CHAPTEK  I 

MY  BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  LIFE  —  WHAT  LED  ME  TO 
ADOPT  THE  LIFE  OF  A  GOLD-SEEKER  —  WHY  MY 
EYES  WERE  TURNED  TOWARDS  ALASKA. 

Boyhood  on  a  Vermont  Farm  —  Scanty  Rewards  of  Toil  —  Forgetting 
the  Cows  —My  Father  Has  Ambitions  for  Me  — I  Am  Sent  to  School 
but  Am  Negligent  in  Study  —  The  Mystery  of  Inheritance — Book 
Knowledge  —  I  Choose  a  Business  Career  in  the  City  —  Behind  a 
Counter  in  a  Dry-goods  Store  — My  Unhappy  Lot  — Sighing  for 
the  Great  West  —  Temptation  to  Break  Away  — It  Finally  Over- 
comes Me  — News  of  Wonderful  Finds  of  Gold  — I  Take  My  Little 
Belongings  and  Arrive  in  Chicago  — Life  as  a  Brakeman  — Falling 
in  with  Gold  Miners  —  Something  about  Nuggets  — A  Tramp's 
Luck  — The  Creede  Rush  — Cripple  Creek  — Two  Irish  Boys  and 
Their  Mountain  Patch  — Meeting  Joe— Alaska  for  the  Gold-Seeker. 

THIS  is  the  plain  story  of  one  wlio  began  life  in  a  little 
township  of  Vermont  about  thirty-two  years  ago, 
and  who,  several  times  during  the  past  two  years, 
has  been  dangerously  near  losing  it  in  a  search  for  gold 
along  the  glacier-bound  coasts  of  Alaska,  in  the  frozen 
regions  of  the  Yukon,  and  in  the  rich  gulches  of  the  Klon- 
dike. 

It  is  of  the  observations,  adventures,  and  experiences  of 

the  last  two  years  that  this  story  is  written.     That  of  the 

first  thirty  may  be  briefly  told,  for  it  is  commonplace  — 

the  story  of  a  country  boy  upon  whose  future  career  his 

'3  (33) 


34       BOYHOOD  ON  A  NEW  ENGLAND  FARM 

struggling  parents  built  great  expectations  only  to  be  cruelly 
disappointed.  That  is  usual  enougli,  for  parental  fondness 
ahvays  indulges  extravagant  hopes  in  a  youth  whose  own 
more  moderate  expectations  are  seldom  realized,  even  after 
his  hardest  struggles.  If  at  last  there  comes  a  time  when, 
in  some  measure,  their  fond  anticipations  are  realized,  they 
may  be  sleeping  in  their  narrow  graves.  My  parents  were 
industrious  and  poor,  a  combination  of  circumstances  of 
which  life  affords  many  instances,  especially  upon  remote 
and  somewhat  stubborn  New  England  farms.  A  boy  grow- 
ing up  in  such  surroundings  could  not  fail  to  be  impressed 
with  the  scanty  rewards  of  the  most  unremitting  toil. 

But  any  boy  finds  sources  of  delight  in  his  surroundings, 
be  they  never  so  poor  and  unpromising,  and,  though  early 
enlisted  in  some  of  the  necessary  work  of  the  farm,  such  as 
replenishing  the  wood-pile  and  churning  the  cream,  my 
inclinations  were  always  to  wander  in  the  woods  or  over  the 
meadows,  chasing  the  squirrels,  or  endeavoring  to  drive 
the  woodchucks  from  their  holes;  so  that  many  times  when 
sent  off  on  the  mountainside  after  the  cows,  I  often  entirely 
forgot  my  errand  in  the  pursuit  of  some  chance  game  or 
childish  fancy.  The  admonitions  of  my  father  on  such  oc- 
casions never  seemed  to  do  any  good.  Seldom  was  I  able 
to  enter  with  persistence  and  interest  iiito  any  useful  piece 
of  work. 

But  for  one  thing,  however,  I  should  probably  have  re- 
mained there  on  the  farm  like  so  many  others,  who,  not 
having  looked  beyond  their  own  narrow  horizons,  settle 
down  to  think  their  little  world  is  like  all  the  rest.  Though 
very  poor,  my  father  entertained  high  ambitions  for  me, 
and  he  determined,  at  whatever  sacrifice,  to  provide  me  with 
an  education.     He  never  ceased  to  regret  what  he  himself 


YOUTHFUL  DREAMS  35 

lacked  in  this  respect,  and  fondly  hoped  that,  if  I  were 
blessed  with  a  little  learning,  I  would  fill  a  place  in  the 
world  of  which  he  would  be  proud,  and  that  his  declining 
years  would  be  years  of  happiness  and  contentment. 

So  at  the  age  of  fifteen  I  was  sent  away  to  an  academy 
in  Massachusetts,  and  immediately  my  ideas  began  to 
undergo  a  marvelous  change.  I  became  possessed  by  a  de- 
sire to  break  away  from  the  limitations  of  a  routine  life  and 
rush  into  the  great  world  of  which  I  thought  I  saw  a 
glimpse.  But  I  had  no  definite  purpose.  I  had  not  the 
least  idea  of  what  I  should  do  if  I  entered  the  world  which 
my  imagination  so  brilliantly  pictured.  My  disposition  re- 
mained the  same.  It  was  simply  let  loose  in  a  wider  field, 
like  an  unbroken  mustang.  Anytliiug  like  hard  study  was 
out  of  my  line,  and  I  seldom  engaged  in  it.  I  would  sit  for 
hours  and  hear  the  city  boys  tell  stories,  would  read  tales  of 
wonderful  adventure,  forgetting  entirely  to  go  to  bed. 
Little  by  little  my  taste  in  reading  improved,  and  I  wan- 
dered about  aimlessly  in  the  fields  of  literature,  not  neglect- 
ing the  great  masters.  But  I  never  studied  the  lessons 
staked  out  by  the  teachers  like  so  many  narrow  garden  plats, 
I  knew  that  my  low  marks  were  a  se^'ere  trial  to  my  parents, 
and  it  was  painful  to  me,  when  I  came  to  think  of  it  and 
realize  what  a  sacrifice  they  were  making  in  my  behalf.  At 
times  I  would  resolve  to  do  better,  and  would  try  to  study 
hard,  but  it  was  no  use.  My  mind  (quickly  fled  away  into 
more  congenial  fields. 

It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  unkind  to  hold  a  man  too  rigidly 
responsible  for  the  mixture  he  finds  in  his  nature.  We  are 
largely  controlled  by  inherent  qualities  of  which  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  rid  ourselves.  These  innate  characteristics  make 
us  what  we  are,  and  I  suppose  that  is  why  we  are  oblivious 


36  A  father's  ambition  thwarted 

to  our  own  faults.  I  know  now  that  my  dis])osition  has 
always  been  that  of  a  wanderer,  though  I  cannot  under- 
stand why  I  .>!;hould  have  inherited  &ueh  a  nature  from  ray 
parents.  Possibly  it  may  be  explained  upon  the  principle 
that  the  chemical  union  of  substances  results  in  combina- 
tions surprisingly  different  from  the  originals.  It  may  be 
that  a  person  can  inherit  a  nature  widely  different  from  that 
of  either  parent,  and  still  be  the  natural  coml)ination  of  their 
natures. 

[Notwithstanding  my  neglect  of  prescribed  studies,  I 
managed  somehow  to  squeeze  through  the  curriculum,  and 
I  was  declared  to  be  fitted  for  college,  but  really  I  was  fit  for 
nothing  which  had  any  definite  aim  in  it.  I  had  extracted 
from  the  books  I  had  so  diligently  read  a  certain  amount  of 
information  which,  for  the  right  ])erson,  would  doubtless 
have  been  more  useful  than  all  that  the  hardest  students  had 
extracted  from  their  text-books  and  teachers,  but  it  was  ap- 
parently of  little  use  to  me.  ]\Iy  fi'lher  had  hoped  that  I 
would  develop  a  determination  to  enter  the  ministry.  He 
sat  in  his  pew  every  Sunday,  looked  up  to  the  minister  and 
imagined  me  in  the  pulpit,  eloquently  holding  forth  upon 
decrees  and  judgments,  while  the  people  hung  breathlessly 
upon  my  words.  But  I  had  no  more  taste  for  theology  than 
for  politics,  which  I  entirely  ignored.  Prom  my  reading 
I  had  formed  the  opinion  that  a  wise  Providence  would  con- 
trol the  world  in  its  own  way,  without  regard  to  systems  of 
theology,  and  that  our  civil  government  would  somehow 
"  run  itself,"  no  matter  which  party  was  in  power.  I  was 
quite  willing  to  let  others  expound  theology,  or  struggle  for 
political  prizes.  My  nature  was  different,  and  my  purpose, 
or  lack  of  it,  might  be  summed  up,  as  nearly  as  it  could  be 
summed  up  at  all,  in  the  words  "  aimless  adventure." 


DULL  DAYS  IN  A  DRY  GOODS  STORE         37 

So  I  adroitly  begged  off  from  going  to  college,  explain- 
ing to  my  father  that,  even  if  I  had  any  inclination  in  that 
direction,  I  knew  tliat  he  conld  not  afford  it,  and  that  it 
would  be  better  for  me  to  go  into  business.  I  had  no  ambi- 
tion in  that  direction  either,  but  I  had  the  unpleasant  real- 
ization that  I  must  do  something  for  a  living. 

Thus  it  happened  that  at  twenty-two  I  was  behind  a 
counter  in  a  big  dry-goods  store  in  Boston.  It  took  very 
little  time  for  me  to  discover  that  there  was  no  romance  in 
the  life  of  a  dry^goods  clerk.  The  lequirements  were  alto- 
gether too  definite  to  suit  my  nature.  All  my  inclinations 
were  to  drift  about,  to  find  adventure,  to  see  life  in  its 
various  phases,  and  there  I  was  day  after  day  for  long  hours 
in  a  crowded  corner  of  a  great  store,  answering  myriads  of 
questions,  some  of  which  I  thought  the  women  who  asked 
them  knew  better  how  to  answer  than  I,  and  calling  for  a 
cash  boy  who  loitered  until  my  customers  had  become  im- 
patient and  upbraided  me.  Variety,  there  was  none.  I 
made  my  board,  and  a  little  more,  because  I  paid  very  little 
for  my  board  and  received  accordingly. 

My  Sunday  respites  brought  me  little  consolation,  for 
though  they  afforded  me  temporary  delight  in  wandering 
off  into  the  country,  they  only  served  to  sharpen  my  appetite 
for  greater  freedom.  I  used  to  v/ish  that  a  war  would 
break  out  so  that  I  could  enlist  and  give  my  nature  vent  in 
an  atmosphere  of  gunpowder.  Often  I  thought  of  joining 
the  recruits  to  the  regular  army,  bnt  upon  investigation  I 
concluded  that  there  was  little  for  a  soldier  to  do  except  to 
waste  his  time  in  a  dull  routine. 

To  a  spirit  like  mine  the  possibilities  of  the  great  West 
naturally  appealed.  I  had  very  little  idea  what  any  part 
of  it  was  like,  and  that  is  i^-^ubtless  one  of  the  reasons  why  I 


38  AN   ENGROSSING   SUBJECT 

longed  to  see  it  for  myself.  It  made  no  particular  diiference 
to  what  part  of  it  I  went,  nor  was  it  essential  that  I  should  go 
for  any  wcll-dctined  ])ni'pos('.  That  would  take  care  of 
itself;  indeed,  I  disliked  to  be  hampered  by  certainties.  I 
knew  I  was  not  in  my  right  place.  Yf  hat  business  had  I,  a 
big  six-footer,  built  on  Vermont  lines,  broad,  muscular,  and 
tough,  dallying  behind  a  dry -goods  counter!  stuck  up  in  a 
corner  like  a  house  plant  when  I  sighed  for  the  free  open  air, 
the  winds,  and  the  storm. 

I  clung  resignedly  to  my  unpleasant  work,  however, 
saving  all  I  could  at  many  a  bitt-er  sacrifice  of  my  inclina- 
tions, for  I  had  sufficient  wisdom  to  realize  the  risks  of  rush- 
ing empty-handed  into  regions  of  vv^hich  I  knew  little,  and 
where  no  one  knew  me.  I  was  sick  and  discouraged  at 
times  over  the  monotonous  routine  of  my  daily  duties. 

In  such  papers  as  I  allowed  mvself  to  buy  I  always  read 
wnth  great  interest  and  care  every  scrap  of  information  or 
news  about  the  Great  West,  and  like  many  others,  even  with 
a  disposition  less  restless  than  mine,  I  Tvas  deeply  impressed 
wdth  the  stories  of  rich  strikes  in  the  mining  regions  and  the 
fortunes  made  in  what  seemed  an  incredibly  short  time.  I 
began  to  read  all  I  could  lay  my  hands  on  relating  to  mines 
and  mining,  and  to  study,  with  a  zeal  which  I  had  never 
shown  before,  the  science  of  that  great  industry ;  thus  acquir- 
ing a  store  of  information  that  would  be  very  valuable  if 
ever  a  time  should  come  when  it  could  be  Ijrought  into  con- 
nection with  practical  experience, but  worth  little  without  it. 

In  the  spring  of  1880  came  the  stories  of  the  ex- 
citement caused  along  the  Pacific  coast  by  the  discoveries 
in  Lower  California.  During  IMarch  an  average  of  six  hun- 
dred men  a  day  rushed  to  the  mines  in  the  Santa  Clara  dis- 
trict, about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  south  of  San 


MAKING  MY   WAY   WESTWARD  39 

Diego.  One  of  tlie  first  workers,  so  the  stories  ran,  washed 
out  fonr  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  gold  in  four  hours,  and  a 
Mexican  digger  took  out  one  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
in  two  days  in  a  space  eight  feet  square. 

As  I  read  these  and  similar  tales,  the  temptation  became 
too  great  for  me  to  resist.  I  had  as  yet  saved  only  a  small 
amount  of  money,  but  I  had  enough  to  take  me  a  part  of  the 
way,  and  then,  I  thought,  I  might  secure  employment 
further  west,  and  a  little  nearer  the  region  of  the  Pacific 
Coast.  So,  after  one  of  my  hardest,  most  exasperating  days 
behind  the  counter,  I  resigned  my  position,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  many  months  walked  to  my  boarding  place  with  a 
light  heart.  After  i-eceiving  what  was  due  me  at  the  store, 
and  buying  a  ticket  for  Chicago,  I  packed  my  small  belong- 
ings in  a  valise,  and  with  my  accumulated  capital,  about 
thirty  dollars,  in  my  pocket,  westward  I  took  my  unde- 
termined way. 

Considerable  time  was  lost  in  an  unsuccessful  search  for 
employment  at  Chicago,  and  gradually  my  small  capital 
became  greatly  reduced.  I  avoided  the  dry-goods  stores 
and  of  course  knew  little  about  any  other  line  of  business. 
My  eyes  were  still  turned  westward,  and  quite  naturally  I 
haunted  the  railway  depots  and  offices  until  destitution 
finally  compelled  me  to  engage  as  a  brakeman  on  a  freight 
train  on  one  of  the  leading  lines  ninning  West  from 
Chicago.  It  was  a  hard  life,  and  yet  I  enjoyed  some 
features  of  it.  Even  my  imagination  had  not  portrayed  the 
Great  "West  as  I  found  it,  with  its  broad  stretches  of  prairie, 
its  busy  cities  and  towns,  its  teeming  harvests,  and  thrifty 
homes. 

Gradually  I  worked  my  way  westward,  constantly  shift- 
ing from  one  division  of  the  railroad  to  another,  each  tend- 


40  "FELLERS   AS   STRUCK   IT   RICH" 

ing  still  farther  west  than  the  last,  till  one  evening  1  fonnd 
myself  in  Colorado  Springs.  Seeking  out  a  moderate- 
priced  hotel,  I  entered  and  found  myself  in  an  eating-room 
where  a  number  of  men  were  drinking  and  smoking,  most 
of  them  engaged  in  earnest  conversation.  Seating  myself 
at  a  ^'acant  table,  I  ordered  as  good  a  meal  as  I  thought  was 
warranted  by  my  rather  scanty  funds. 

"  Yes,  thar's  some  mighty  big  stories  'bout  fellers  as 
struck  it  rich,"  I  heard  the  old  man  who  sat  at  the  next  table 
say  to  his  companions,  who  were  all  considerably  younger, 
"  but  I'm  only  tellin'  what  I've  seen  to  be  true.  One  day, 
when  I  was  in  Shasta  county,  'bout  fifteen  years  back,  three 
fellers  that  looked  like  Frenchmen  druv  into  town,  and 
droppin'  into  a  hardware  store  to  get  somethin'  or  other, 
asked  the  proprietor  whar  was  a  likely  place  to  mine.  They 
looked  tenderfoot  like,  and  I  guess  they  was.  The  pro- 
prietor kinder  careless  like,  ye  know,  p'int-ed  north,  and 
said  '  Go  over  to  Spring  Creek.'  Wal,  sir,  they  went,  and 
after  prospecting  around  they  located  a  claim  a  little  ways 
up  the  stream,  an'  in  a  few  days  one  o'  them  durn'd  French- 
men picked  up  a  nugget  wutli  over  six  thousand. 

"  You  don't  find  secli  nuggets  as  them  in  these  days," 
chimed  in  one  of  the  younger  men  as  he  took  out  a  roll  of 
bills  and  beckoned  to  the  waiter.  He  had  a  swaggering 
manner,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  others  regarded  him 
with  a  degree  of  deference. 

"  How  big  d'  ye  say  yourn  w^as,  Sandy?  '^  asked  the  old 
man. 

"  Only  fort,y-eight  ounces,  but  it  was  enough,  so  I  sold 
the  claim  for  big  money  to  the  Denver  parties." 

"  Wal,  ye  say,  Sandy,"  resumed  the  old  man,  "  that  big 
strikes  ain't  made  tliese  days,  but  it  ain't  so  long  ago  when 


A   BIG  NUGGET  41 

I  was  clown  on  the  Gila  that  I  heard  of  a  lucky  find  a  little 
way  ofi^  the  Southern  Pacific  in  Californy,  Two  fellers 
tranipin'  up  the  coast  got  put  off  a  freight  train  at  Calliente, 
and  they  started  to  hoof  it  to  Bakersville.  In  two  days, 
back  they  came  to  Calliente  with  a  lump  of  gold  and  quartz. 
The  boys  thought  they  might  have  robbed  a  camp,  and 
p'raps  killed  the  miner  to  get  it.  But  they  told  how  they 
was  goin'  'bout  in  the  dry  bed  of  an  old  stream  not  far  from 
the  Bealeville  placer  camp,  in  search  of  wood  for  a  fire,  and 
stumbled  on  the  gold.  They  had  ofi'ered  to  sell  it  to  a  rail- 
road man  before  they  came  back  to  Calliente,  but  he  sus- 
pected the  strangers,  and  wouldn't  bargain.  Wal,  sir,  that 
lump  was  sold  afterwards  in  Los  Angeles  for  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  It  weighed  116  ounces. 
The  boys  rushed  into  that  old  stream  but  they  never  found 
any  more  big  nuggets." 

I  forgot  my  supper,  hungry  as  I  was.  The  effect  of 
such  conversation  upon  a  tenderfoot  with  but  a  little  silver 
in  his  pocket,  and  who  was  impatient  to  send  comforting 
news  to  his  far-away  home  in  Vermont,  may  be  imagined. 
'^  Houghing  it,"  and  "striking  it  rich,"  was  just  my  ideal 
then.  I  had  tried  roughing  it  somewhat,  and  all  I  needed 
was  to  strike  it  rich. 

"  Excuse  me,  gentlemen,"  I  said,  slowly  turning  my 
chair,  and  somewhat  nervously  facing  the  group,  "  but  I  am 
down  this  way  to  ^ee  what  I  can  do  in  a  mining  country, 
and  I  am  interested  in  your  talk.  Is  there  any  chance  any- 
where around  here  for  a  fellow  like  me  to  strike  in?  " 

They  looked  at  me  critically  for  a  moment,  and  the 
young  fellow  who  seemed  to  be  spending  tliQ^money,  said: 
"  Stranger,  you  look  all  right,  and  I  guess  you  are.  Say, 
stranger,  where  you  from?  " 


42  FIRST  RUSH   TO   THE  GOLD-FIELDS 

I  told  tliem  that  1  caiiic  from  jSTew  England,  and  tlicy 
glanced  at  my  clothes,  which,'  notwithstanding  the  rough 
wear  of  the  ]iast  few  weeks,  were  not  at  all  bad.  At  this 
the  man  whom  they  called  "  Sandy  "  informed  me  that  he 
had  just  sold  one  of  his  claims,  but  he  had  another  that  could 
be  bought  for  fair  money,  and  his  companions  also  began  to 
expatiate  upon  the  value  of  claims  they  would  dispose  of. 
I  had  to  confess,  sorely  against  my  inclination,  that  my 
capital  did  not  permit  me  to  buy  claims,  but  I  would  like  to 
get  work  in  a  mining  region,  and  trust  to  my  luck. 

It  seems  that  Sandy  had  recently  come  in  from  the  wild 
regions  about  Willow  Creek,  and  a  rush  was  then  just  begin- 
ning toward  the  place  where  Creede  made  his  discovery.  I 
listened  eagerly  to  the  stories  of  fabulous  fortunes  and  sud- 
den wealth  narrated  by  these  prospectors.  To  my  over- 
wrought imagination  it  seemed  easy  to  become  rich  Where 
gold  was  so  abundant.  The  result  was  that  the  next  day  I 
started  with  a  party  of  a  dozen  others  on  my  first  rush  to 
gold  fields.  Thus  it  was  that  I  began  to  supplement  my 
store  of  book  information  about  mining  with  the  details  of 
practical  experience.  These  details  were  not  unlike  those 
of  others  in  the  mining  districts  of  the  Rockies,  and  the 
stor}^  has  often  been  told.  I  worked  in  the  mines  till  I 
secured  a  good  understanding  of  mining  as  it  was  there  con- 
ducted. I  was  grub-staked  and  spent  much  of  my  time 
wandering  over  the  mountains,  along  creeks  and  streams, 
and  through  gulches.  It  was  on  the  whole  an  agreeable 
life,  but  I  failed  to  make  a  strike.  That  is  also  a  story 
which  has  often  been  told. 

I^ot  long  afterwards  came  the  rush  to  C^ripple  Creek, 
where  a  cowboy  had  found  in  Poverty  Gulch  ore  which, 
when  taken  to  Colorado  Springs,  was  found  to  yield  two 


FINDING   PAY-ROCK  43 

luuidred  and  forty  dollars  to  tlie  ton.  Those  going  in  early 
found  ore  of  even  higher  value.  After  the  Buena  Vista 
mine  was  sold,  the  attention  of  the  entire  country  was  at- 
tracted to  Cripple  Creek,  and  the  great  rush  to  that  now 
famous  district  began.  They  poured  in  over  the  mountaiu 
tops  and  through  the  gulches,  and  claims  were  staked  in  all 
directions,  regardless  of  the  character  of  the  rock.  Many 
hardships  were  endured  in  the  early  days  of  the  opening  of 
this  district,  but  a  rough  life  proved  not  at  all  distaste- 
ful to  me,  though  I  met  with  no  marked  success.  Still, 
there  was  always  the  chance,  and,  in  some  notable  cases, 
men,  after  prospecting  and  suffering  many  hardslii]3s  with- 
out success,  had,  when  on  the  point  of  packing  their  traps 
and  returning  to  their  former  employments,  stumbled  upon 
ore  that  made  them  rich  within  a  few  months. 

One  of  the  notable  discoveries  coming  some  little  time 
after  the  rush  was  that  of  the  Portland  mine.  Two  Irish 
boys  from  Portland,  ]\[e.,  owned  a  small  patch  of  poor  land 
which  they  did  not  know  exactly  what  to  do  with.  One 
day  a  miner  of  some  experience  came  along  and  asked  what 
they  would  give  if  he  found  pay-rock  for  them.  They 
offered  a  third.  The  miner  found  it  that  afternoon,  and  in 
time  that  third  interest  became  worth  millions. 

I  kept  on  prospecting,  always  buoyed  up  by  the  hope  of 
making  a  great  discovery  that  would  eclipse  all  others  and 
yield  me  a  princely  fortune. 

In  the  fall  of  1S05  I  fell  in  with  another  prospector 
about  my  age,  named  Joseph  Meeker.  There  was  a  certain 
compatibility  in  our  dispositions  and  tastes,  and  we  soon 
became  fast  friends.  Joe  had  originally  come  from  I^orth 
Carolina,  but  he  had  spent  a  year  in  Alaska,  and  had  been 
mining  for  several  years  in  Colorado,  but  with  no  better  sue- 


44  A  STARTLING  PROPOSITION 

cess  than  had  attended  my  efPorts.  lie  never  grew  tired  of 
talking  ahont  ALaska.  It  had  a  strange  fascination  for  him, 
and  he  would  return  to  the  subject  again  and  again.  We 
were  sitting  close  to  the  fire  in  the  cabin  one  night  when  Joe 
suddenly  inquired  how  much  money  I  had. 

"  I've  saved  about  eight  hundred  dollars,"  I  replied, 
wonderingly.     "Why?" 

"  I've  got  'bout  seven  hundred  dollars,"  he  said,  "  and 
I'll  tell  you  why  I  ask.  You  are  strong  and  hearty.  You 
ought  to  stand  it,  and  I  know  I  can.  The  only  place  to 
hunt  for  gold  now  is  in  Alaska.  I  was  up  there  two  years 
ago,  worked  in  the  Tread  well  mills  awhile,  and  in  the  sum- 
mer crossed  over  to  the  upper  Yukon.  There's  gold  there 
in  river  banks,  but  the  ground's  frozen  twenty  feet  deep, 
and  the  climate  is  beastly  in  the  winter.  I  got  caught  on 
the  Yukon  late  in  the  fall,  and  had  a  hard  time  getting  back. 
I  didn't  have  any  outfit,  and  when  I  came  out  I  was  as  near 
dead  as  I  could  be.  But  I  believe  that's  the  place  for  us, 
and  if  we  put  our  money  together  it  will  be  enough  to  buy 
a  good  outfit  and  pay  our  way  to  Alaska,  and  next  spring  we 
can  go  in  all  right.     How  does  it  strike  you?  " 

The  proposition  startled  me.  Alaska  was  a  long  way 
off,  and  it  was  comparatively  an  unknown  country.  I  was 
already  far  from  home  and  kindred.  Besides  I  was  not  so 
sanguine  of  success  as  my  companion  appeared  to  be,  and 
mining  in  a  country  where  the  ground  was  "  frozen  twenty 
feet  deep  "  did  not  at  first  impress  me  as  a  particularly  at- 
tractive scheme.  I  hesitated,  but  only  for  a  few  moments; 
for,  impelled  by  my  restless  and  unsatisfied  love  of  adven- 
ture, and  the  alluring  possibilities  in  a  new  land  from 
whence  rumors  of  gold  had  already  come,  I  said,  "  I'll  go." 


CHAPTER   II 

HO  FOR  ALASKA  !  — EXTENT  OF  OUR  GREAT  TERRITORY  — 
GETTING  RExVDY  FOR  THE  START  — OUR  OUTFIT 
AND  WHAT  IT  CONSISTED  OF. 

My  Meager  Ideas  of  the  Territory  —  Joe  Draws  on  His  Store  of  Infor- 
mation —  Vast  Extent  of  the  Country  —  Dull  and  Dirty  Natives  — 
A  Race  of  Shirks  —  Habits  of  the  Dogs  —  Navigation  of  the  Yukon 

—  Mo.s(iuitoes  That  "Kill  Bears" — Story  of  the  Miners'  Search 
for  Gold  on  the  Yukon  —  A  Pioneer  Prospecting  Party  —  Some  of 
the  Early  Finds  —  Gold  Every vphere  —  The  Klondike  Moose  Past- 
ure—  Despised  by  the  Gold-Seekers  —  Coarse  Gold  on  Forty-Mile 
Creek— The  Rise  of  the  Town  —  Sixty  Mile  —  Miller  and  Glacier 
Creeks  —  A  Missionary  Picks  up  a  Nugget  —  Founding  of 
Circle  City  —  My  Partner  Becomes  Impatient  —  Making  Our  Plans 

—  We  Proceed  to  San  Francisco  —  Buying  an  Outfit — What  It 
Consisted  of  —  Our  Medicine  Chest — Over  a  Ton  and  a  Half  to 
Carry  —  A  Peep  into  the  Future  —  Ominous  Suggestions. 

ALASKA  was  about  the  only  country  of  the  world  into 
which  my  venturesome  imagination  had  not  taken 
me.  I  knew  that  the  United  States  bought  it  of 
Russia  in  1867  for  less  than  half  a  cent  an  acre,  but  I  had 
never  figured  from  the  total  purchase  price  how  many  acres 
it  made.  It  was  something  of  a  revelation  to  me,  there- 
fore, when  Joe,  who  was  an  exceedingly  well-informed  man 
in  many  ways,  and  particularly  upon  Alaska,  convinced  me 
that  this  territory  was  nine  times  the  size  of  T^ew  England, 
twice  the  size  of  Texas,  and  three  times  that  of  California; 
that  it  had  a  coast  line  of  over  eighteen  thousand  miles, 

(45) 


46  OUR   WONDERFUL  TERRITORY 

greater  tlian  that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  United  States,  and 
that,  measuring  from  the  most  eastern  point  of  Maine  to 
the  most  western  point  of  the  Aleutian  Ishuids,  wliieh  ex- 
tend over  into  the  eastern  hemisphere,  the  half-way  point 
of  the  United  States  would  be  a  little  west  of  San  Francisco. 
Joe  had  a  fund  of  general  information  concerning  the 
country.  T\Tiile  I  had  been  dreaming  vaguely  of  the  Great 
AVest,  he  had  been  looking  with  quiet  detennination  to- 
wards that  land  from  which  he  had  w'itli  so  much  difficulty 
only  recently  escaped,  and  in  spite  of  that  severe  experience 
he  had  been  working  hard  to  save  money  enough  to  enable 
him  to  return  and  prospect  mth  safety  on  the  Yukon. 
While  it  was  generally  known  that  the  first  lease  of  two 
tiny  islands  retiu'ued  to  the  United  States  Treasury  a  sum 
equal  to  the  purchase  money,  and  that  the  salmon  industry 
had  yielded  a  like  sum  for  the  fii^t  six  yeai^s  of  its  establish- 
ment, the  outside  world  had  as  yet  heard  very  little  about 
its  gold  resources.  Summer  pleasure-seekei-s  had  turned 
back  at  the  Muir  Glacier,  which  is  over  a  thousand  miles 
south  of  Point  Barrow,  and  had  rarely  ventured  as  far  as 
the  Aleutian  Islands,  which  stretch  to  a  point  two  thousand 
miles  west  of  Sitka.  A  few  explorers  had  wandered  over 
some  of  the  rough  Indian  trails,  and  Ijad  nearly  lost  their 
lives  in  climbing  the  snow-capped  mountain  peaks.  For 
several  years  poorly  maintained  trading  posts  had  been  col- 
lecting furs  from  the  Indians,  and  here  and  there  over  the 
vast  region  were  mission  stations  which  had  produced  little 
effect  on  the  dull  and  dirty  natives.  Dogs  and  Indians 
were  the  beasts  of  burden,  the  dogs  being  far  superior,  for. 
though  bom  thieves,  they  would  work  under  the  lash ;  but 
the  Indians  were  lazy,  and,  after  exacting  the  most  extrava- 
gant prices  for  packing  over  the  trails,  were  quite  likely 


VORACIOUS   INDIANS   AND   MOSQUITOES  47 

to  throw  down  their  packs  and  return  home,  leaving  the 
explorer  helpless  in  the  desolate  regions.  As  all  contracts 
with  these  Indians  included  their  keeping,  and  as  no  one  had 
had  ever  discovered  a  limit  to  their  appetites  when  others 
provided  the  food,  the  poor  explorer  usually  found  that  the 
Indian  packers  would  cat  up  all  they  could  carry  before  go- 
ing far  into  the  interior.  At  home  they  would  live  frugally 
on  nothing  but  fish,  some  of  it  very  ancient,  for  most  of 
them  were  too  lazy  to  catch  any  till  driven  to  it  by  gnawing 
hunger.  When  carrying  a  pack  for  a  white  man  they  were 
rarely  able  to  lift  an  ounce  till  they  had  eaten  two  or  three 
pounds.  Then  they  would  trot  along  with  a  pack  that  no 
white  man  could  stagger  under. 

What  means  of  navigation  existed  on  the  Yukon  were 
exceedingly  primitive.  Running  two  thousand  miles 
across  Alaska  and  into  the  Northwest  Territory,  into  which 
the  head  tributaries  stretched  five  hundred  miles  further, 
navigation  could  hardly  be  attempted  before  July,  and 
towards  the  last  of  September  the  river  generally  began  to 
freeze.  The  quickest  way  to  reach  the  headwaters  of  the 
Yukon  was  overland  from  the  coast,  but  one  could  do  little 
more  than  take  his  life  in  his  hands,  to  say  nothing  of  pro- 
visions, if  he  ventured  from  the  trails,  which  were  full  of 
dangers,  while  in  the  summer  the  mosquitoes,  Joe  em- 
phatically said,  had  been  known  to  "  kill  bears."  In  five 
months  the  country  receives  as  much  sunshine,  or  rather 
daylight,  as  California  receives  in  eight,  and  in  seven 
months  as  much  night  as  California  receives  in  nearly  a  year 
and  a  half. 

"  But  there's  gold  there,"  said  Joe.     "  And  T  know  it." 

It  was  the  erold  that  he  was  thinking  of,  and  though  I 

was  not  unmindful  of  it  either,  I  could  not  help  but  weave 


48  ALASKA'S   FIRST   PROSPECTORS 

fanciful  pictures  of  life  in  a  little-known  country  reputed 
to  be  full  of  dangers,  and  hence  attractive  to  one  of  my  dis- 
position. To  me  it  was  a  pleasant  picture  to  contemplate. 
I  knew  nothing  about  the  reality.  What  little  was  known 
of  the  mineral  possibilities  of  the  country  in  the  fall  of  1895 
was  fairly  well  known  by  my  partner,  who  had  industri- 
ously sought  information  from  every  possible  source. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  though  an  experienced  miner  will 
not  recognize  it  as  such,  that  the  Yukon  and  the  streams 
which  tlow  into  it  have  been  prospected  for  years.  The 
reader  must  not  suppose  that  all  one  has  to  do  is  to  come  to 
the  right  spot  to  find  gold  staring  him  in  the  face.  Expe- 
rienced prospectors  traveled  many  times  over  some  of  the 
richest  rocks  in  Colorado  l>efore  their  treasures  were  discov- 
ered, and  the  conditions  along  the  frozen  banks  of  the  Yukon 
are  even  more  misleading,  as  will  be  seen  later.  But 
as  early  as  thirty  years  ago,  even  before  the  seventies,  gold 
w^as  known  to  exist  in  the  beds  of  the  streams  which  empty 
into  the  Yukon.  Only  a  few  prospectors  ventured  into 
these  forbidding  regions  and  they  found  small  returns  for 
their  hardships  and  drudgery.  It  appears  that  the  first  real 
prospecting  was  done  by  George  Holt,  who  crossed  either  the 
Chilkoot  or  the  White  Pass  in  1878  and  found  coarse  gold  in 
the  Hootalinkwa  river.  In  1880  a  party  of  twenty-five, 
headed  by  Edward  Bean,  found  bars  yielding  $2.50  a  day  on 
a  small  tributary  of  the  Lewis.  In  subsequent  years  gold 
was  found  on  the  Big  Salmon,  Pelly,  Hootalinkwa,  Lewis, 
and  Stewart  rivers.  When  Lieutenant  Schwatka  made  his 
trip  down  the  Yukon  in  1883  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Joseph  Ladue,  wdio  was  years  after  to  become  famous  as 
the  founder  of  Dawson.  Ladue  was  digging  about  persist- 
ently, but  he  found  little  in  the  holes  which  he  sunk  with 


FAILURE  AND   DISAPPOINTMENT  49 

the  greatest  difficulty.  Scliwatka  also  heard  of  others  who 
had  been  prospecting  many  seasons  with  poor  results.  Still 
there  were  traces  of  gold  almost  everywhere,  and  a  miner 
knows  that  where  there  are  traces  of  the  precious  metal 
a  source  of  supply  must  exist  somewhere. 

Early  in  the  seventies  there  were  miners  working  at  the 
headwaters  of  the  Pelly  River,  near  the  Cassiar  Mountains, 
and,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  map,  near  where  some  of  the 
feeders  of  the  Pelly  and  the  Mackenzie  approach  each 
other.  Some  of  them  had  learned  of  tlie  existence  of  a 
large  lake  beyond  the  Cassiar  and  made  an  effort  to  reach 
it,  but  failed  and  returned  disgusted.  In  1872,  two  Irish- 
men named  Harper  and  Hart ;  Fitch,  a  Canadian ;  Kanselar, 
a  German;  and  Wilkinson,  an  Englishman,  believing  that 
gold  existed  on  the  Mackenzie  because  it  had  been  found 
in  some  quantities  on  some  of  the  principal  streams,  started 
on  a  prospecting  trip.  At  Laird  River  they  fell  in  with 
two  men  named  ]\[cQuesten  and  Mayo,  who  were  also  pros- 
pecting. Wilkinson  determined  to  try  his  luck  there,  but 
the  others  continued,  and  finally  by  way  of  Bell's  River  and 
the  Porcupine  came  to  Fort  Yukon,  an  old  supply  point 
at  the  junction  of  the  Porcupine  and  Yukon  and  close  to 
the  Arctic  Circle.  There  they  found  an  Indian  who  had 
some  native  copper  which  he  said  had  come  from  White 
River,  400  miles  up  the  Yukon. 

They  determined  to  work  their  way  up  there,  and  did 
eventually,  but  were  stopped  near  the  White  River  in  Sep- 
tember by  ioe.  They  built  a  cabin  and  during  the  winter 
prospected  for  the  copper,  but  found  none.  By  spring 
their  provisions  had  run  out  and  they  started  down  the  river 
again,  prospecting  as  they  went.  They  found  indications 
of  gold  near  the  mouth  of  Stewart  River,  but  could  take 


50  SOME   EARLY   PIONEERS 

no  advantage  of  this  till  thev  had  obtained  provisions. 
They  had  to  make  their  way  nearly  2,000  miles  to  St.  Mi- 
chael, near  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon,  and  on  their  way  back 
met  McQuestin  and  Mayo,  Avho  had  meanwhile  gone  into 
the  service  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company. 

When  about  -iOO  miles  uj)  the  river  and  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Koyukuk  they  encotmtered  an  Indian  having  some 
gold  which  he  said  had  come  from  the  mountains  in  that 
vicinity.  So  they  spent  two  years  prospecting  in  that  re- 
gion, but  with  no  results.  Meantime,  McQuestin  and  Mayo 
had  gone  up  the  Yukon  and  established  Fort  Reliance,  six 
and  a  half  miles  from  the  stream  which  is  now  known  as  the 
Klondike.  Harj^er  and  his  companion  joined  them  a  little 
later  and  formed  a  trading  partnership.  The  region  near 
this  stream  was  kno^\m  only  as  a  fishing  and  hunting  ground, 
and  no  one  thought  of  prospecting  there  then,  for  the  beds 
were  formed  of  uninviting  dirt  and  nothing  but  surface 
prosi>ecting  was  done.  Harper  had  written  concerning 
the  traces  of  gold  to  some  of  his  old  comrades  in  British 
Columbia,  where  he  had  mined  for  years,  and  some  of  them 
made  their  way  to  the  new  diggings.  Early  in  the  eighties 
gold  was  found  in  the  StCAvart  River,  and  it  was  about  this 
time  that  rich  quartz  fields  were  discovered  in  the  vicinity 
of  Juneau,  on  the  coast,  and  the  attention  of  the  outside 
world  was  mainly  directed  towards  them.  In  1886  Har- 
per erected  a  trading  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Stewart  fnr 
the  benefit  of  the  thirty  or  more  minei*s  who  had  been  in- 
duced to  go  into  these  regions,  but  in  the  same  year  coarse 
gold  was  fotmd  on  Forty  ]\rile  Creek.  Coarse  gold  is  the 
miner's  delight,  and  as  soon  as  the  discovery  became  known, 
the  St-ewart  River  diggings,  the  product  of  which  in  1885 
and  1886  was  estimated  at  $300,000,  were  deserted  for 


SLUICING   WITH   A   STEAMBOAT   ENGINE  51 

Forty  Mile  Creek,  and  Harper  moved  his  trading  post  to 
that  point;  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  of  that 
name.  The  same  year  the  Klondike  stream,  which  then 
appeared  on  the  maps  as  Deer  Eiver,  was  prospected  for 
several  miles,  but  no  gold  was  found.  On  the  other  hand, 
gold  was  found  nearly  the  whole  length  of  Forty  Mile 
River  and  in  all  its  gulches.  The  news  of  this  discovery 
was  brought  out  by  Tom  Williams,  who  died  at  Dyea  from 
the  effects  of  cold  and  exhaustion  endured  in  crossing  the 
Chilkoot  pass.  Flis  information  caused  several  hundred 
men  to  go  to  Forty  Mile  from  the  Pacific  Coast. 

The  only  mining  done  on  the  Stewart  was  on  the  bars 
of  the  river.  The  bench  and  bank  bars  were  all  timbered 
and  frozen  so  that  to  work  them  it  was  thought  would  en- 
tail a  resort  to  hydraulic  mining,  for  which  there  was  no  ma- 
chinery in  the  country.  During  the  fall  of  1886  three  or 
four  miners  combined  and  got  the  owners  of  one  of  the 
little  river  steamboats  to  allow  the  use  of  her  engines  to 
work  pumps  for  sluicing  with.  The  boat  was  hauled  up 
on  the  bar,  her  engines  detached  from  the  wheels  and  made 
to  drive  pumps  manufactured  on  the  ground,  thus  supply- 
ing water  for  a  set  of  sluice  boxes.  With  this  crude  ma- 
chinery the  miners  cleared  $1,000  in  less  than  a  month,  and 
paid  an  equal  sum  to  the  o^vners  of  the  boat  as  their  share. 

But  scarcely  anything  was  heard  of  these  discoveries 
by  the  outside  world,  though  the  Canadian  agent  reported 
them  to  his  government.  Few  miners  were  there,  the  sea- 
son for  work  was  short,  and  the  little  gold  which  came  down 
attracted  no  attention,  while  many  rich  mines  were  being 
discovered   in   Colorado   and   California. 

Not  long  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Forty  Mile 
Creek  a  few  miners  crossed  the  narrow  divide  which  sep- 


52  A   MISSIONARY   PICKS   UP   A   NUGGET 

arates  the  licadwaters  of  Forty  ]\lile  from  those  of  Sixty 
Mile  and  discovered  gold  on  Miller  and  Glacier  creeks. 
The  former  had  already  been  prospected  three  different 
times  and  given  up  as  worthless,  but  it  turned  out  to  be  the 
richest  creek  in  the  region  and  enjoyed  that  reputation  for 
yeai's.  In  1891  gold  was  found  on  the  headwaters  of  Birch 
Ci-^ek,  which  flows  into  the  Yukon  a.bout  forty  miles  below 
Fort  Yukon.  According  to  the  story  which  came  down 
the  coast,  this  discovery  was  due  to  Archdeacon  ]\[acdonald, 
a  Canadian  missionary  on  the  Peel  River,  who  in  connection 
%nth  his  missionary  labors  traveled  over  much  of  the 
country.  In  coming  from  the  Tanana  River  he  picked  up 
a  nugget  in  one  of  the  gulches  of  Birch  Creek.  He  told 
some  of  the  miners  and  a  party  made  a  search.  While  they 
failed  to  find  the  place  answering  the  missionary's  descrip- 
tion they  found  gold.  This  Avas  the  beginning  of  Circle 
City,  on  the  banks  of  the  Yukon,  about  200  miles  below 
Forty  Mile  and  only  a  few  miles  by  portage  from  Birch 
Creek.  During  1893  the  Klondike  stream  was  again  pros- 
pected, but  nothing  was  found.  But  Circle  City  attracted 
to  it  many  of  the  old  miners  who  had  had  poor  success  on 
other  creeks  and  most  of  the  newcomers.  These,  however, 
were  very  few  until  1894. 

My  partner  had  learned  the  stoiy  of  some  of  these  dis- 
coveries while  at  Juneau  and  during  his  unsuccessful  ven- 
ture inland.  He  returned  to  California  in  the  hopes  of 
providing  a  good  outfit,  but  was  obliged  to  prospect  and 
work  in  the  mines,  trusting  to  luck  to  raise  the  necessary 
money.  Attracted  by  the  stories  which  came  down,  several 
hardy  miners  from  California  went  up  to  the  Yukon  regions 
in  1894,  but  Joe  remained  behind  and  worked  hard  to  se- 
cure the  means  which  he  had  learned  by  observation  and 


PLANNING  A   NEW   ENTERPRISE  63 

experience  were  required  to  prospect  in  such  a  wild  country. 
].ate  in  the  summer  of  1895,  a  lot  of  gold  came  down  to  San 
Francisco  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon,  and  for  the  first 
time  Alaska  began  to  attract  a  lively  attention  in  the  min- 
ing camps  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  along  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Joe  was  greatly  excited  but  knew  it  was  too  late 
that  year  to  venture  safely  into  the  new  El  Dorado.  When 
we  became  fast  friends  he  saw  the  advantages  of  forming 
a  partnership  with  me  in  the  enterprise. 

It  was  then  November,  and  we  wished  to  be  ready  to 
start  by  the  first  of  March.  He  said  it  would  be  no  use  for 
us  to  try  to  start  earlier,  for  owing  to  the  difficulties  of  travel 
before  the  Yukon  broke  up  no  time  would  be  gained,  while 
a  good  deal  of  needless  hardship  would  be  incurred.  It 
was  fortunate  for  me  that  I  had  a  companion  who  knew 
something  of  the  route  and  what  to  expect.  It  would  have 
1icen  just  like  me  to  start  in  with  little  thought  of  pro- 
visions and  with  an  inadequate  outfit  of  clothing  and  sup- 
jilies.  AVe  worked  along  till  the  end  of  the  year  making 
our  plans,  and  early  in  January  we  bade  good-bye  to  Colo- 
rado and  started  for  San  Francisco  to  secure  our  outfit  and 
passage. 

I  have  seen  many  statements  of  the  outfit  a  man  needs 
in  going  into  the  Alaska  mining  regions,  but  I  have  never 
seen  one  that  enumerated  all  tlie  things  which  a  man  wants 
after  he  is  there.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  he  is  going 
to  a  place  which  is  practically  cut  off  from  the  outside 
world  for  the  greater  ]>art  of  the  year  and  which  is  very 
little  better,  as  far  as  supplies  are  concerned,  at  any  time. 
All  this  may  be  remedied  some  time,  but  I  was  going  in 
before  the  attention  of  the  commercial  world  had  been 
greatly  attracted  to  the  region.     While  one  with  money 


54 


A  YEAR  S   PROVISIONS 


enough  in  his  pocket  can  travel  all  over  the  United  States 
and  want  for  nothing,  when  he  crosses  the  mountain  passes 
or  goes  up  the  Yukon  to  the  interior  of  Alaska  he  needs  to 
have  with  him  all  that  he  is  likely  to  want  for  a  year.  He 
may  want  it  very  badly  and  in  vain,  and  still  have  any 
amount  of  gold  in  his  pockets. 

We  secured  a  cheap  boarding  place  near  the  wharves 
in  San  Francisco  and  soon  set  to  work  to  collect  such  articles 
as  Joe's  experience  and  the  best  information  we  could  ob- 
tain from  every  possible  source  convinced  us  would  be 
necessary.  After  taking  out  of  our  capital  what  was 
needed  for  passage,  living  expenses  till  March,  and  quite 
a  sum  for  expenses  on  the  way,  we  concluded  we 
might  with  the  remainder  purchase  enough  clothing 
and  pi"ovisions  for  a  year,  or  more,  besides  the  necessary 
hardware. 

I  have  a  list  of  some  of  the  things  we  purchased  and 
others  I  have  sup]ilied  from  memory.  The  following  is 
about  what  we  took  in  the  way  of  ]irovisions: 


Flour, 

800  lbs. 

Bacon,       .... 

300  lbs 

Corn  Meal, 

50  " 

Dried  Beef, 

60  " 

Rolled  Oats,      . 

80  " 

Dry  Salt  Pork, 

50  " 

Pilot  Bread,      . 

50  " 

Roast  Coffee,    . 

50  " 

Baking  Powder, 

20  " 

Tea,  .        .  '      . 

25  " 

Yeast  Cakes,     . 

6  " 

Condensed  Milk, 

50  " 

Baking  Soda,    . 

6  " 

Butter,  hermetically  sealed 

40  " 

Rice, 

100  " 

Salt, 

40  " 

Beans, 

200  " 

Ground  Pepper, 

3  " 

Split  Peas, 

50  " 

Ground  ]\Iustard,     . 

2  " 

Evaporated  Potatoes, 

50  " 

Ginger,      .... 

2  " 

Evaporated  Onions, 

.20  " 

Jamaica  Ginger, 

3  " 

Beef  Extract,  . 

3  " 

Evaporated  Vinegar, 

12  " 

Evaporated  Apples, 

50  " 

Matches 

25  " 

Evaporated  Peaches, 

50  " 

Candles,  2  boxes  contaiuin 

3 

Evaporated  Apricots, 

50  " 

240  candles, 

80  " 

A   GOLD   SEEKER  S  OUTFIT 


55 


Dried  Raisins,  . 

.      20  lbs. 

Laundry  Soap, 

.      15  lbs. 

Dried  Figs, 

.      20  " 

Tar  Soap, 

.       5  " 

Granulated  Sugar,    . 

.    150  " 

Tobacco,  . 

.     30  " 

In  the  hardware  line  our  outfit  was  of  a  more  miscel- 
laneous character  and  as  complete  as  we  knew  how  to  make 
it,  and  everything  came  in  handy.  We  purchased  as  fol- 
lows : 


1  Hand  Saw. 

2  Hatchets. 

2  Shovels. 

1  Whip  Saw. 

30  pounds  of  Nails  (assorted  sizes). 

2  Scissors. 

-^  dozen  assorted  Files. 

Fish  Lines  and  Hooks. 

2  Handled  Axes. 

1  Gold  Scale. 

2  Draw  Knives. 

1  Chalk  Line. 

1  Jack  Plane. 

I'Measuring  Tape. 

1  Brace  and  4  Bits. 

2  Money  Belts. 

3  Chisels,  assorted. 

2  Cartridge  Belts. 

2  Butcher  Knives. 

2  Gold  Dust  Bags  (buckskin) 

2  Hunting  Knives. 

2  Pairs  Snow  Glasses. 

2  Pocket  Knives. 

6  Towels. 

2  Compasses. 

1  Caulking  Iron. 

1  Set  Awls  and  Tools. 

Knives  and  Forks. 

150  feet  of  |-inch  Rope. 

Table  and  Teaspoons. 

1  Medicine  Case. 

2  Large  Spoons. 

15  pounds  of  Pitch. 

2  Bread  Pans. 

20  pounds  of  Oakum. 

Granite  Cups. 

Pack  Straps. 

Granite  Plates. 

2  Gold  Pans. 

2  Coffee  Pots. 

4  Galvanized  Pails. 

2  Frying  Pans. 

1  Whetstone. 

1  Stove  (Yukon). 

2  Picks  and  Handles. 

4  Granite  Buckets. 

2  Prospector's  Picks. 

1  Camp  Kettle. 

2  Grub  Bags. 

I  have  no  exact  record  of  the  wearing  apparel  that 
formed  an  important  part  of  our  outfit,  but  it  was  ample. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  following  list  which  will  not  come 
in  very  handy  if  a  man  intends  to  move  around  in  the  rain 


56 


GARMENTS   FOR  ARCTIC  WEATHER 


storms  of  summer  and  iu  the  frigid  weatlier  of  an  Alaskan 
winter: 


3  Suits  Underwear,  extra  heavy. 
2  Extra    heavy    double-breasted 

Flanuel  Overshirts. 
1  Extra  heavy  Mackinaw  Over- 
shirt. 

1  Extra  heavy  all-wool  double 

Sweater. 
6  Pairs  long  German  knit  Socks. 

2  Pairs  Gerinan  knit  and  shrunk 

Stockings,  leather  heels. 
1  Mackinaw  Coat,  extra  heavy. 
1  Pair  Mackinaw  Pants. 

4  Pairs  All- Wool  Mittens. 


2  Pairs  Leopard   Seal  Waterproof 

1  Pair  Hip  iJoots.  [JMitteus. 

2  Pairs  Rubber  Shoes. 
2  Pairs  Overalls. 

1  Waterproof,  Blanket-Lined  Coat. 

2  Pairs  Blankets. 
1  Fur  Cap. 

1  Wool  Scarf. 
1  Pair  Leather  Suspenders. 
1  Extra  Heavy  Packing  Bag. 
1  Suit  Oil  Clothing  and  Hat. 
1  Doz.  Bandana  Handkerchiefs. 
1  Canvas  Sleeping  Bag. 


Any  woman  who  thinks  of  going  to  Alaska  can  read 
this  list  intended  for  a  man  and  govern  the  selection  of  her 
garments  accordingly. 

Onr  outfit,  which  altogether  we  estimated  would  weigh 
about  3,200  pounds,  embraced  other  little  odds  and  ends, 
personal  effects,  and  so  on.  We  each  had  a  rifle,  and  we 
also  provided  ourselves  with  revolvers.  We  haunted  gTO- 
cery  stores  and  clothing  houses  for  over  a  week,  and  as  our 
purchases  were  delivered  I  began  to  get  a  dim  realization 
of  what  Joe  was  preparing  for.  Still  I  was  often  surprised 
at  the  wholesale  manner  in  which  he  bought.  One  day 
he  bought  a  medicine  chest,  wdiieh  looked  like  a  miniature 
drug  store.  Tt  had  been  recommended  to  him  by  a  phy- 
sician. It  took  up  a  lot  of  room  and  it  was  about  the  only 
thing  that  we  did  not  use  in  our  subsequent  wanderings. 
The  trouble  was  that  we  did  not  know  how  to  use  it.  Some 
of  the  remedies  might  have  been  for  blisters  or  cramps  or 
any  other  human  ailment  so  far  as  we  knew.     We  managed 


GRIT   MORE   THAN   HALF  57 

to  sort  out  a  few  remedies  with  whicli  we  had  some  famil- 
iarity. We  found  tliat  a  few  stock  remedies,  such  as  most 
]5ersons  are  accustomed  to  use,  are  about  all  that  it  is  worth 
while  to  carry  over  the  mountain  trails  and  long  voyages 
by  water.  In  winter  a  hot  drink  of  tea  did  us  more  good 
than  anything  else,  and  in  summer  a  few  quinine  pills  were 
taken  as  bon-bons. 

"  Over  a  ton  and  a  half,"  I  said  when  the  collection  was 
completed. 

"  You  will  think  it  weighs  five  times  that  before  you  get 
it  on  the  Yukon,"  remarked  Joe.  "  But  it's  a  mighty  good 
outfit,  and  I  hope  we  shall  get  it  there  all  right." 

Joe  was  sometimes  vague  as  to  the  details  of  some  of  the 
difficulties  for  which  he  was  so  carefully  providing;  and 
though  a  faint  suspicion  would  now  and  then  arise  in  my 
mind  when  he  confined  himself  to  general  statements  in 
answer  to  some  of  my  questions,  I  quieted  my  misgivings. 
I  think  even  he  had  no  clear  conception  of  the  magnitude  of 
some  of  the  dangei's  and  hardships  we  were  destined  to  en- 
counter. "  It'll  be  the  roughest  roughing  it  you  ever  saw," 
he  would  say.  ''  But  you've  got  grit,  and  that's  more  than 
ball" 


CHAPTER  III 

CHOOSING  A  ROUTE  — OUR  VOYAGE  ALONG  THE  COAST- 
ARRIVAL  AT  DYEA— FIRST  EXPERIENCE  WITH  NA- 
TIVES. 

Departure  from  San  Francisco  —  Port  Townsend  —  Through  Puget 
Sound  —  Points  of  Interest  and  Beauty  —  A  Gap  in  the  Island  Belt 
—  Few  Moments  of  Seasickness  —  The  Great  Scenic  Region  —  In 
Alaskan  Waters  — Tide  Water  Glaciers  —  Juneau  as  a  Metropolis  — 
A  Glimpse  of  Totem  Poles  —  Indian  Traders  —  The  Mines  of  the 
Vicinity  and  their  Discovery  —  Famous  Treadwell  Mills  —  The 
Largest  in  the  World  —  The  Skagway  and  Dalton  Trails  —  Pro- 
ceeding to  Dyea — Dumped  on  the  Beach — Getting  Supplies 
Together  and  Beyond  the  Tide — The  Problem  of  Moving  Ahead  — 
Approached  by  Indian  Packers —  Dangers  of  Bidding  up  Prices  — 
A  Contract  with  the  Heathen  —  Our  First  Night  in  Camp  —  Dark 
Ways  of  the  Chilkoots  —  We  Decide  to  Do  Our  Own  Packing. 

AT  the  time  we  started  for  Alaska  there  were  but  two 
general  routes  from  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the  United 
States  to  the  gold,  regions  of  the  Yukon.  The  first 
was  by  the  way  of  the  Yukon  River,  and  that  means  a  jour- 
ney of  about  four  thousand  fiye  hundred  miles,  all  by  w^ater, 
at  such  times  as  the  sand  bars  do  not  obstruct  nayigation. 
This  yoyage  can  only  be  made  between  the  middle  of  June 
and  the  first  of  September,  and  it  usually  requires  forty 
days  to  reach  Circle  City.  The  other  way,  which  is  .shorter 
and  quicker,  if  conditions  are  favorable,  can  be  undertaken 
much  earlier  in  the  year,  and  is  by  the  way  of  Juneau,  Dyea, 
and  the  mountain  passes  to  the  lakes  and  upper  waters  of  the 

(58) 


BEGINNING   THE   VOYAGE  61 

Yukon.  The  fare  from  San  Francisco  by  way  of  tlie 
Ynkon  is  about  three  hundred  dollars,  and  a  charge  of  ten 
cents  a  pound  for  freight  over  the  amount  allowed  for  per- 
sonal baggage.  From  San  Francisco  to  Juneau  the  fare  is 
fifty  dollars,  and  the  freight  charges  amount  to  but  little. 
After  reaching  Dyea  the  charges  for  packing  and  ferrying 
are  extravagant.  One  can  spend  as  much  as  he  likes. 
There  is  no  limit  to  what  the  Chilkoots  will  try  to  make  out 
of  a  person  disposed  to  give. 

We  were  too  impatient  to  get  into  the  country  to  wait 
for  the  water  route,  and  I  should  have  dreaded  its  monotony. 
I  looked  forward  to  the  overland  route  with  pleasure, 
especially  that  part  of  it  supposed  to  impose  the  obstacles  at 
which  Joe  had  so  vaguely  hinted. 

We  sailed  out  of  San  Francisco  harbor  on  March  15th. 
We  were  not  the  only  gold-seekers  aboard.  Still,  we  were 
not  crowded,  and  our  quarters  were  comfortable.  Port 
Townsend,  the  "  Key  City  of  the  Sound,"  is  the  port  of 
entry  for  the  Puget  Sound  customs  district,  and  point  of 
departure  of  the  mails  for  Alaska.  Here  we  transferred  to 
the  Alaska  steamer  which  came  from  Tacoma  and  Seattle, 
and  fell  in  with  a  few  more  Alaskan  adventurers. 

The  voyage  from  Port  Townsend,  which  we  left  on  the 
20th,  to  Juneau,  is  one  of  the  most  varied  and  delightful  that 
any  coast  line  aifords.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  another 
journey  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  the  first  half  of  which  is  so 
enjoyable  and  the  second  half  so  dismal,  as  the  journey  from 
Port  Townsend  to  the  Yukon  in  a  Juneau  and  the  passes. 
For  two  thousand  miles  the  vessel  steams  through  land- 
locked channels,  straits,  and  passages.  The  landscape  is 
wonderfully  beautiful  all  the  way,  and  the  traveler  never 
ceases  to  wonder  at  its  varietv. 


02  PAST   SNOW-CAPPED   SUMMITS 

All  the  upper  end  uf  the  Puget  Sound  is  dominated  by 
^h.  Baker,  an  extinct  volcano  over  ten  thousand  feet  high. 
We  crossed  the  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  close-walled  on  the 
southern  side  by  the  Olympic  range,  and  touched  at  Vic- 
toria on  the  souther]!  point  of  Vancouver  Island.  AVe 
then  skirted  the  shores  of  San  Juan  Island  through  Active 
Pass,  and  entered  the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  which  is  a  great 
inland  sea  with  the  snow-capped  mountains  of  Vancouver 
Island  continuously  on  one  side,  and  the  Cascade  Peaks  on 
the  other.  Rounding  Cape  Mudge,  we  entered  Discovery 
Passage,  which  is,  at  points,  less  than  half  a  mile  wdde.  At 
Queen  Charlotte  Sound  there  is  a  forty-mile  gap  in  the 
island  belt,  and  the  swell  of  the  outer  ocean  is  felt.  Those 
subject  to  mal  de  mer  disappear  for  a  time,  but  that  is  the 
only  place  in  this  salt  water  voyage  of  two  thousand  miles 
where  any  discomfort  need  be  expected.  We  soon  entered 
the  narrow  way  again,  steaming  through  Lama  Passage, 
which  is  beautifully  wooded,  revealing  here  and  there 
glimpses  of  the  aborigines  and  their  totem  poles.  Having 
crossed  Millbank  Sound  we  entered  the  great  scenic  regions 
of  the  trip.  The  shores,  which  are  seldom  more  than  two 
miles  apart,  rise  abruptly  for  over  a  thousand  feet,  rugged 
promontories  underneath  whose  shadows  limpid  mirrors  lie; 
while  above  them  rise  the  snowy  ridges,  gh'stening  with 
glaciere  and  cascades. 

After  passing  Fort  Simpson  we  entered  Alaskan  waters. 
The  coasts  continued  mountainous  and  the  scenery  became 
more  grand.  A  little  above  Fort  Wrangel  we  reached  the 
region  of  tide-water  glaciers,  whose  bergs  sparkling  along 
the  sound,  and  on  every  foot  of  the  shore  on  both  sides,  is  a 
suggestion  of  the  wonders  of  this  mighty  land  of  the  north. 
Mountains  rear  their  snow-capped  summits  far  into  the  sky, 


ARRIVAL  AT  JUNEAU  63 

and,  peering  throngli  the  clefts  once  riven  by  some  great 
shock  of  natnre,  we  see  other  ranges,  over-topping  ranges, 
frowning  darkly  or  standing  with  a  ghost-like  whiteness; 
and,  nearer,  the  mighty  glaciers  glow  in  all  their  varied 
tints.     We  passed  inlets,  where 

,  .  .  "  the  clmnuel's  waters  spreading 
Turn  toward  the  land,  and  find  it 
So  entrancing  in  its  fairness, 
So  stupendous  in  its  grandeur  ! 
Find  its  ice-bound  coast  so  willing 
To  receive  their  bright  advances, 
That  they  lie  in  sheets  of  silver 
At  the  foot  of  lofty  ice-peaks." 

On  tlie  fonrth  day  out  from  Port  Townsend  we  steamed 
into  Gastineau  Channel,  and  soon  arrived  at  Juneau,  the 
metropolis  of  Alaska.  AYe  had  feasted  on  the  delights  of 
the  voyage,  and  the  disagreeable  portion  was  to  come. 
Xature  has  a  way  of  evening  things  up,  and  though  some- 
times the  process  is  so  long  that  we  do  not  realize  it,  her  rigid 
law  of  compensation  is  always  in  force. 

We  disembarked  at  Juneau  with  our  precious  supplies. 
It  is  a  queer  metropolis,  lying  at  the  base  of  precipitous 
mountains  about  three  thousand  feet  high,  and  the  flat  plain 
between  the  shore  and  the  base  of  the  mountain  seems  very 
narroAV,  It  is  now  well  built  up  with  houses,  though  it  con- 
tained at  that  time  only  about  two  thousand  people.  Its 
streets  are  narrow,  crooked,  and  muddy,  and  here  and  there 
the  tree-stumps  remain  unpleasantly  in  the  way.  It  has  a 
court  house,  several  hotels  and  lodging  houses,  theaters, 
churches,  schools,  newspapers,  a  hospital,  a  fire  brigade,  and 
a  brass  band,  but  more  saloons  and  dance-houses  than  all  the 
other  institutions  put  together.  Among  its  more  modern 
improvements  are  water-works  and   electric  light   plants. 


64  THE   METROPOLIS  OF  ALASKA 

Adjuiiiiiii;'  on  tlu>  I'ast  below  the  wharf  is  a  viUage  of  'I'aku 
Indian^;,  and  on  the  Hats  at  the  mouth  of  Gokl  Creek  is  a 
viUage  of  Auk  Indians,  back  of  which  we  get  a  glimpse  of 
totem  poles  over  the  graves  of  the  dead,  and  hung  with  offer- 
ings to  the  departed  spirit^s.  As  we  pass  along  through 
Third  and  Stewart  streets,  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  we  find 
the  Indians  squatting  about  their  wares,  fish,  vegetables, 
berries,  and  curios,  and  in  the  larger  stores  are  fine  displays 
of  fur's.  One  can  get  about  everything  he  needs  here,  and 
a  good  deal  more,  especially  in  the  lines  of  gambling,  drink- 
ing, and  dance  halls.  Such,  in  brief,  is  the  metropolis  of  a 
country  larger  than  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary  to- 
gether. 

Juneau  is  essentially  a  mining  town,  owing  its  su- 
premacy to  the  adjacent  quartz  mines  which  have  much 
more  than  paid  the  cost  of  Alaska,  to  say  nothing  of  its  seals 
and  valuable  fisheries.  Until  recently  the  territory's  repu- 
tation as  a  gold  country  has  been  due  to  these  mines.  It  was 
about  twenty  yeare  ago  that  a  party  of  Indians  brought 
a  bit  of  gold  quartz  to  Sitka,  where  a  merchant  grub-staked 
Joseph  Juneau  and  Richard  Harris,  and  sent  tliem  in  search 
of  the  ore.  Although  this  was  the  beginning  of  «Tuneau, 
it  was  three  years  later  before  the  place  took  its  name.  The 
settlement  was  first  named  Harrisburg,  but  the  mining  com- 
pany Avhich  had  named  the  district  the  Harris  Mining  Dis- 
trict gave  the  name  of  Juneau  to  the  town.  Miners  flocked 
to  the  new"  camp,  but  many  came  too  late  to  find  claims 
there,  and  crossed  over  to  what  is  now  known  as  Douglass 
Island,  then  an  untouched  wilderness.  After  they  had 
staked  out  claims  they  sold  for  something  less  than  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  a  corporation,  mostly  of  California  men, 
finallv  secured  it.     It  is  now  the  site  of  the  famous  Tread- 


AN  INEXHAUSTIBLE   SUPPLY  65 

well  gold  mills,  the  largest  plant  of  the  kind  in  the  world. 
Abont  a  million  of  dollars  has  been  spent  on  the  plant,  at 
which  six  hundred  tons  of  ore  are  milled  daily  at  a  cost  of 
about  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  ton.  The  ore 
varies  in  value  from  three  dollars  to  seven  dollars  a  ton. 
The  supply  seems  inexhaustible.  The  company  is  capi- 
talized at  five  million  dollars,  and  has  paid  nearly  four  mil- 
lion dollars  in  dividends.     Joseph  Juneau  died  a  poor  man. 

Being  the  center  of  such  an  industry,  and  also  the  chief 
rendezvous  of  the  miners  going  over  the  passes  into  the  in- 
terior, Juneau  City  will  doubtless  maintain  its  supremacy 
as  Alaska's  metropolis.  The  news  of  the  Yukon  dis- 
coveries has  wrought  a  great  change  in  the  place  since  we 
went  in,  and  promises  to  work  greater.  Joe  Avas  perfectly 
at  home  in  this  region,  where  he  had  worked  during  his 
former  sojourn  in  Alaska.  I  played  the  part  of  the  tourist, 
he  of  guide.  While  waiting  at  Juneau  we  purchased  a 
couple  of  sleds  well  adapted  to  Alaskan  uses,  and  with  these 
our  outfit  seemed  complete. 

From  Juneau  to  Dyea  is  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
miles  up  Lynn  Canal  and  the  Ghilkoot  and  Taiya  (Dyea) 
Inlets.  The  route  by  Dyea  and  the  Chilkoot  Pass  was  the 
old  reliable  one,  having  been  used  by  the  Indians  for  years, 
and  the  one  which  most  of  the  gold-seekers  we  had  encoun- 
tered were  taking.  There  are  two  others,  the  Skagway 
over  the  White  Pass  and  the  Dalton  trail  from  the  Chilkat 
Inlet.  The  first  was  thought  by  some  to  be  the  easier  route, 
and  was  the  one  generally  chosen  by  those  who  were  ex- 
perimenting with  horses  in  this  rough  country.  It  is  about 
seventeen  miles  from  tide  water  to  the  summit  of  the  White 
Pass,  and  abont  four  miles  of  this  is  through  a  flat  timbered 
valley.      The  summit  is  about  two  thousand  six  hundred 


66  THE   DALTON  TRAIL 

feet  above  tide  water,  and  the  remainder  of  tlie  rontc  nntil 
it  joins  the  Chilkoot  trail  is  over  marehes  and  an  undidatinii; 
rocky  surface  exceedingly  difficult  for  pack  animals,  and 
with  very  little  soil.  In  1896  this  trail  attracted  little  at- 
tention.    Its  prominence  was  to  come  the  following  year. 

If  the  Alaskan  traveler  is  to  experiment  with  horses, 
and  the  temptation  is  certainly  great  in  view  of  the  un- 
reliability of  the  Indians,  he  had  best  try  the  Dalton  trail, 
which  takes  its  name  from  Jack  Dalton,  who  went  to 
Juneau  many  years  ago,  as  one  story  goes,  because  he  was 
iiccused  of  stealing  horses.  He  was  innocent  of  the  charge, 
but  he  took  veugeance  on  the  man  who  had  accused  him. 
His  trail  affords  a  tolerably  good  road  for  two  hundred  miles 
from  tide  water.  The  first  forty  miles  from  Chilkat  Inlet 
is  on  a  river  flat  with  an  easy  grade,  thence  to  the  divide, 
which  is  three  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level.  Another 
divide  is  crossed  twenty  miles  further  on  at  the  watershed 
of  the  Alsek  and  Chilkat  rivers.  The  rest  of  the  trail  to  the 
Five  Finger  Rapids  is  a  succession  of  valleys  with  hardly 
perceptible  divides.  It  is  said  that  in  summer  a  man  with 
a  saddle  horse  and  pack  animal  can  make  thirty  miles  a  day 
on  this  trail.  Dalton  is  one  of  the  most  expert  of  Alaskan 
trailers. 

But  it  is  the  Dyea  route  which  concerns  us,  and  thus  far 
it  has  remained  the  most  practicable  one.  We  left  Juneau 
for  Dyea  on  March  25th,  on  a  fair-sized  steamer,  but  quickly 
encountered  difl"erent  conditions  from  those  which  had  yire- 
viously  afforded  us  so  much  pleasure.  AVe  should  have 
reached  Dyea  in  twelve  hours,  but  there  seemed  to  be  a  hur- 
ricane trying  to  get  out  of  the  canal,  which  some  have  called 
the  grandest  fiord  on  the  coast.  There  are  a  few  indenta- 
tions on  the  coasts,  which  are  made  up  of  abru]")t  palisades 


A   SCENE   OF   CONFUSION  67 

varied  with  glaciers  and  forests.  The  water  is  very  deep  in 
the  channel,  and  a  strong  cold  wind  sucked  down  between 
the  cliffs  of  either  side,  and  tossed  us  about  in  the  most  bois- 
terous fashion.  Drifting  icebergs  from  the  Eagle,  Auk, 
and  Davidson  glaciers  added  to  the  confusion.  After 
pitching  about  helplessly  for  some  time,  we  put  up  in  a  little 
bay,  and  lay  over  there  one  day.  Meanwhile  most  of  the 
wind  seemed  to  have  worked  itself  out  of  the  channel. 
Thus  we  did  not  arrive  at  Dyea  till  the  27th,  and  after  pick- 
ing up  on  the  way  a  party  which  had  been  wrecked  on  a 
small  sailboat  and  had  lost  most  of  their  provisions. 

Dyea  is  an  Indian  word  meaning  "  pack  "  or  "  load." 
Certainly  you  would  have  thought  it  a  very  appropriate  one 
if  you  had  seen  the  gold-seekers  and  their  belongings 
dumped  on  the  beach,  almost  every  man  and  woman  with 
provisions  for  a  year  or  more,  while  some  of  the  dirtiest- 
looking  Indians  on  the  face  of  the  earth  hovered  around 
like  evil  spirits.  There  was  a  small  improvised  wharf, 
which  was  of  no  use,  as  there  was  too  little  water  in  the  chan- 
nel to  permit  the  steamer  to  come  up,  and  her  cargo  was  dis- 
charged by  scows  and  small  boats. 

The  beach  was  flat  and  covered  with  small  rocks  which 
the  people  there,  who  make  their  living  by  unloading  car- 
goes and  packing  over  the  trail,  leave  just  where  Nature 
dropped  them.  It  might  hurt  their  business  to  remove 
such  obstructions  to  convenience  and  safety.  The 
steamer  anchored  about  two  miles  from  the  village,  it  being- 
low  tide.  Boats  were  lowered  and  the  unloading  com- 
menced, the  contents  being  dumped  on  the  rocks,  anywhere 
to  get  rid  of  them,  and  there  was  considerable  confusion. 

After  our  goods  were  deposited  and  had  been  sorted  out, 
the  next  thing  was  to  get  them  up  above  the  reach  of  the 


68  TENTING    IN    THE   SNOAV 

tide.  AVe  worked  like  beavers,  and  so  did  the  others. 
With  a  little  hig,h-priced  help  from  the  Indians,  we  man- 
aged to  carry  everything  back  about  a  mile  from  the  beach, 
where  we  found  a  place  to  camp.  There  we  set  up  our  tent, 
and  made  preparations  for  the  season  of  roughing  it  before 
us.  About  ten  inches  of  snow  covered  the  ground,  and  it 
was  quite  soft  in  places.  While  we  ^v•ho  had  been  used  to  a 
miner's  life  did  not  mind  it  much,  there  was  a  noticeable 
change  in  the  faces  of  those  who  were  less  inured  to  hard- 
ships. It  is  not  pleasant  to  leave  the  steamer  and  to  begin 
living  in  a  tent  pitched  in  nearly  a  foot  of  snow. 

When  we  had  settled  ourselves  as  comfortably  as  we 
could,  and  had  taken  the  opportunity  to  observe  our  sur- 
roundings, w^e  were  struck  with,  the  transformation  wdiich 
some  of  the  women  had  undergone.  Generally  speaking, 
their  dresses  had  disappeared,  and  they  came  forth  in 
bloomers,  and  many  of  them  in  the  regulation  trousers  of 
the  other  sex.  It  does  not  do  to  be  ''  squeamish"  in  Alaska. 
There  are  obstacles  enough  to  travel,  without  the  in- 
cumbrance of  skirts.  The  w^omen  were  of  all  ages  under 
fifty,  and,  as  we  gradually  learned,  the  majority  of  them 
were  unmarried,  at  least  had  no  husbands  wdth  them,  and 
their  destination  was  the  dance  halls  of  Circle  City  and 
Forty  Mile.  They  were  not  as  a  rule  an  attractive  lot  for 
fastidious  people  to  encounter  socially,  but  out  of  about 
thirty  women,  four  or  five  were  wives  traveling  with  their 
husbands,  or  daughters  with  their  fathers,  and  were  very 
respectable  and  well-appearing  people,  with  marks  of  refine- 
ment which  their  life  in  mining  camps  had  not  obliterated. 

But  there  is  little  time  to  observe  human  nature. 
There  are  over  three  thousand  two  hundred  pounds  to  get 
over  the  trail  somehow.     On  our  two  sleds  w^e  could  di-aw  a 


ENGAGING   PACKERS  69 

fair  load  over  good  roads,  but  the  advisability  of  securing 
Indian  packers  for  the  bulk  of  the  provisions  was  naturally 
suggested.  A  few  of  the  gold  pilgrims  started  at  once  to 
pack  their  goods  further  up  the  trail  before  camping.  A 
feverish  haste  will  ahvays  be  noticed  among  such  pilgrims, 
though  it  helps  but  little  in  the  end. 

In  a  short  time  a  dirty  one-eyed  Indian  came  towards 
us,  and  in  English  which  just  escaped  being  unintelligible 
asked  if  we  had  packing  to  do.  lie  knew  well  enough  we 
had. 

"  How  nnicli  you  give  to  summit?  "  he  asked. 

According  to  the  ethics  of  the  trail  the  price  for  pack- 
ing should  2iot  be  bid  up.  If  one  party  put  up  the  price  in 
order  to  secure  quick  service,  every  other  Indian  on  the  trail 
would  know  it  in  an  inconceivably  short  space  of  time,  and 
all  would  throw  down  their  packs  at  once,  contracts  or  no 
contracts.  They  would  refuse  to  carry  for  less  than  the 
man  in  a  hurry  was  willing  to  pay.  One  man  who  had 
plenty  of  money,  it  was  said,  bid  up  the  price,  and  as  a  result 
received  a  very  cold  ducking  in  the  creek.  So  we  offered 
the  Indian  the  prevailing  price,  which  was  seventeen  cents 
a  pound,  and  he  promised  to  be  on  hand  with  twenty-five 
Indians  early  the  next  morning. 

"  You  may  see  that  heathen  in  tlie  morning,  and  you 
may  not,"  remarked  Joe,  as  the  Indian  slowly  loafed  away 
towards  the  little  ^'illagc  of  about  three  hundred  Chilkoots. 

We  cut  some  hemlock  brush  and  laid  it  on  the  snow  in 
the  tent,  put  our  blankets  on  it,  and  filling  our  pipes  sat 
down  near  the  opening  of  the  tent,  Joe  on  a  box  of  soap,  I 
on  some  evaporated  apricots. 

"  Do  you  see  that  notch  up  yonder?  "  said  Joe,  blowing 
a  cloud  of  smoke  from  his  mouth.     I  saw  it,  though  it  was 


70  THE   UNRELIABLE   HEATHEN 

hardly  distiiiguisliable  in  the  whiteness  of  tlic  towering 
mountains. 

"  Well,  this  truck  of  ourn'  has  got  to  go  up  through 
there." 

I  never  slept  better  in  my  life  than  I  did  on  those  hem- 
lock boughs  laid  over  snow.  AVe  were  up  bright  and  early 
to  be  ready  for  the  Indians.  There  were  no  signs  of  them. 
We  finished  our  breakfast, and  packed  the  sleds  which  we  in- 
tended to  draw  ourselves.  Then  we  took  down  our  tent, 
but  no  Indians  came.  I  grew  impatient,  but  Joe  seemed 
not  at  all  surprised.  After  a  time  he  went  do^^^l  to  the 
Indian  village,  but  came  back  alone,  saying  tlie  Indians 
were  not  all  up.  As  they  showed  no  indications  of  taking 
off  their  clothes  when  they  retired  for  the  night,  I  concluded 
that  getting  up  could  not  be  a  long  process.  But  it  was 
over  an  hour  before  an  Indian  appeared,  and  then  there 
were  less  than  a  dozen. 

"  Where  are  the  others?  "  I  asked  sternly  of  the  one- 
eyed  Chilkoot. 

"  They  come  bimeby,"  he  remarked  indifferently. 

The  wretched-looking  Siwashes  poked  around  among 
the  packs,  hefted  them  critically,  then  jabbered  away 
among  themselves,  and  finally  informed  us  that  they  ob- 
jected to  some  of  the  articles  unless  an  extra  price  was  paid. 
The  very  Indians  we  had  engaged  were  dickering  with  other 
parties  in  the  same  way.  I  tried  threatening  one  of  them, 
but  it  had  no  more  effect  than  if  he  had  been  an  iceberg. 
Joe  laughed  at  me,  while  the  Indians  stood  about  chattering 
in  a  language  that  is  perfectly  inexpressible  in  any  phonetic 
signs  we  have.  Xo  one  would  ever  take  it  for  speech  but 
for  the  slight  motions  of  their  lips,  and  the  convulsions  in 
the  throat.     "  A  confusion  of  gutturals  with  a  plentitude  of 


GOOD   SUBJECTS   FOR   MISSIONARY  WORK  71 

saliva  —  a  moist  language  with  a  gurgle  that  approaches  a 
gargle,"  is  the  best  description  of  it  I  have  ever  heard. 

None  of  the  Indians  seemed  to  be  in  the  least  hurry  to 
start;  indeed,  they  did  not  appear  to  care  whether  they 
started  or  not.  Once  in  a  while  the  one-eyed  fellow  would 
come  and  demand  more  on  some  flimsy  pretext  or  otlier. 
Finally  my  patience  gave  out  completely.  I  told  Joe  that 
I  would  rather  pack  our  stores  over  a  dozen  Chilkoot  passes 
than  fool  with  heathen  like  these.  So,  after  losing  con- 
siderable time,  we  concluded  to  do  our  own  packing,  and  I 
think  some  of  those  fellows  went  away  actually  relie^'ed. 
They  are  too  lazy  to  regard  the  loss  of  w^ork  as  anything  but 
a  blessing.  So  far  as  I  observed  them,  they  had  one  virtue, 
and  that  was  a  remarkable  regard  for  other  people's  prop- 
erty. They  will  not  steal,  but  their  word  is  absolutely 
worthless.  They  have  no  conception  of  the  obligations  of 
a  contract.  After  demanding  exorbitant  pay,  and  being 
promised  it,  they  will  delay  starting  to  suit  their  own  feel- 
ings, and  will  throw  down  their  packs  at  the  slightest  ]3rovo- 
cation.  They  will  even  trudge  along  with  them  for  a  long 
distance,  and  then,  after  demanding  extra  pay,  will  drop 
their  burdens  and  return  with  no  pay  for  what  they  have 
done.  JSTo  one  can  afford  to  engage  them  for  any  but  short 
distances,  for  the  point  is  soon  reached  when  they  have  eaten 
up  all  they  started  with. 

These  people  may  be  interesting  to  ethnologists,  and 
they  may  seem  i^romising  material  for  devout  missionaries, 
but  for  the  man  who  is  in  a  hurry  to  get  to  the  gold  regions 
of  Alaska  they  are  more  often  a  hindrance  than  a  help. 
Where  one  cannot  depend  on  horses  or  dogs,  he  will  save 
his  tom]~»er  by  depending  on  himself.  PTe  will  also  save  a 
lot  of  money  and  a  large  percentage  of  his  provisions. 


CHAPTER    lY 

LIFE  OX  THE  TRAIL  — STRANGE  SIGHTS  AND  SCENES  — 
STORM  BOUND  IN  SHEEP  CAMP  — A  WOMAN'S  AD- 
VENTURES AND  EXPERIENCES. 

Along  the  Famous  Dyea  Trail  —  Walking  Twenty  Miles  and  Making 
Four — Snow,  Boulders,  and  Glaciers  — Exhibitions  of  Grit  —  Tent- 
ing in  the  Snow  —  A  Democratic  Crowd  —  The  Yukon  Stove  — 
The  So-called  Gridiron  —  Beans  and  Bacon  —  "It  will  be  New  On 
the  Yukon"  —  Asleep  on  a  Bed  of  Boughs  —  What  a  Trail  Consists 
of  —  A  Crack  Two  Miles  Long  —  Pleasant  Camp  —  Sheep  Camp 
and  the  Faint-Hearted  —  A  Discouraged  Man  and  a  Resolute 
Woman  —  Going  Over  Anyhow  —  Not  All  so  Brave  —  Having  a 
Good  Cry  —  My  Theory  as  to  the  Fortitude  of  Some  Women  — 
Throwing  off  the  Fetters  of  Civilization  —  Two  Weeks  of  Storm  — 
Monotony  and  Silence  — An  Active  Glacier  Entertains  Us  — Nature' s 
Untamed    Moods  —  Sunshine  at   Last  —  Now   for    The  Chilkoot! 

THE  beginning  of  the  trail  over  Chilkoot  Pass  does 
not  give  any  indications  of  the  difficulties  a  little 
further  on,  esiiecially  under  favorable  conditions 
in  the  latter  part  of  March.  Tlie  streams  are  still  frozen, 
except  in  open  places,  and  the  trail  along  their  banks  is  cov- 
ered with  snow,  wliicli  in  most  places  lias  become  solidly 
packed.  In  the  early  winter  tlie  snow  is  apt  to  be  soft  and 
deep,  while  in  the  summer  the  trails  are  soft  and  slippery, 
and  streams  with  treacherous  bottoms  must  be  forded. 
The  water  is  considerably  colder  at  all  times  than  any  man- 
ufactured ice  water,  and  tlie  current  is  swift  and  strong, 

(72) 


PACKING   UP   THE   TRAIL  73 

being"  abundantly  fed  by  the  melting  glaciers  and  rains 
that  nevea-  end  till  one  has  forgotten  when  they  began. 

"  Does  it  always  rain  here  ?  "  I  once  heard  a  traveler 
ask  of  an  Indian. 

"  Snows  sometime,"  replied  the  native,  in  the  most  mat- 
ter-of-fact manner.  Before  we  got  through  the  pass  we 
found  that  it  could  do  both  at  the  same  time  without  show- 
ing any  signs  of  exhaustion. 

Joe  superintended  all  the  preparations.  We  increased 
the  loads  on  our  sleds  to  400  pounds  each,  and  found  that 
we  could  pull  them  very  comfortably  for  the  first  five  miles, 
the  river  being  frozen  and  the  track  hardened  by  those  who 
had  gone  ahead.  At  the  end  of  five  miles  the  way  became 
more  difiicult,  and,  coming  to  a  spot  well  timbered  and 
watered,  where  several  othei's  had  camped,  we  unloaded, 
cached  our  goods,  and  returned  to  camp  for  another  load. 
We  saw  that  we  could  not  make  the  four  trips  necessary 
to  bring  up  all  our  goods  without  working  half  the  night, 
and  we  were  tired  enough  to  stop  when  we  returned  from 
the  third  load,  but  concluded  to  keep  on. 

The  Dyea  Valley  is  an  old  river  bed  full  of  huge  boul- 
ders, which  make  a  summer  trip  over  the  trail  exceedingly 
difiicult.  Even  in  winter  they  are  serious  obstacles,  as 
there  are  places  in  the  river  which  do  not  freeze,  and  unless 
the  snow  is  deej)  the  sledding  is  very  rough  on  the  banks. 
On  either  side,  high  up  on  the  mountains,  the  tops  of  which 
were  hidden  in  the  clouds  most  of  the  time,  were  small  gla- 
ciers cutting  down  through  the  scraggy  growth  of  spruce 
and  hemlock.  Back  and  forth  through  this  desolate  valley 
w^e  tramped,  continually  meeting  others  engaged  in  the 
same  work. 

There  is  no   time   to   stop  to   cultivate   acquaintances. 


74  GRIT   OF    THE   (K)LD   PILGRIMS 

Occasionally  we  came  up  just  in  time  to  help  a  man  right 
his  overturned  sled,  or  to  extricate  a  woman  who  had  stepped 
into  a  treacherous  drift  or  fallen  into  a  little  crevice. 
Here  and  there  along  the  way  tents  were  passed,  as  well  as 
caches  of  provisions,  which  were  left  unguarded  without 
incurring  serious  risk.  But  in  Alaska  all  provisions  must 
be  cached  to  be  out  of  reach  of  the  dogs.  They  are  the 
only  thieves. 

Many  strange  sights  are  witnessed  even  in  these  days, 
when  the  gold  fields  at  Forty-Mile  and  Birch  Creek  are  at- 
tracting fortune-seekers.  AVe  met  a  young  woman  who 
was  going  in  with  her  husband,  slowly  working  her  way  to- 
ward the  pass.  She  was  trudging  along  with  packs  of  over 
forty  pounds  on  her  back,  and  her  face  bore  the  marks  of 
refinement.  The  grit  and  nerve  displayed  on  every  side 
were  marvelous.  Some  men  preferred  to  make  short 
marches  and  piled  on  their  backs  sixty  or  seventy-five 
pounds,  keeping  up  a  brisk  gait  for  a  mile  or  so,  then  strik- 
ing camp,  and  in  the  same  way  bringing  up  the  remainder 
of  their  outfits.  That  is  the  hardest  way  and  nothing  is 
gained. 

It  was  very  late  before  we  arrived  with  our  last  load  and 
had  our  tent  again  set  up  in  the  snow..  Those  who  have 
not  tried  it  can  hardly  imagine  what  it  is  to  tramp  twenty- 
five  miles,  half  the  way  pulling  four  hundred  pounds,  in 
an  intermittent  snow  storm,  over  a  road  which,  while 
smooth  for  Alaska,  would  be  deemed  almost  impassable  in 
Xew  England. 

Yet  there  was  a  novelty  in  the  experience  which  was 
exhilarating,  so  that  it  did  not  fatigue  us  as  much  as  it  might 
otherwise  have  done.  Having  put  up  our  tent  and  cut  a 
few  scraggy  hemlocks,  we  trimmed  off  the  tops  for  a  bed 


FLAPJACKS   ON   A   YUKON   STOVE  75 

and  used  the  stumps  for  a  fire,  not  so  easily  started  with 
green  wood  in  a  snow  storm.  It  was  a  very  democratic 
gathering.  Theire  were  no  formalities,  no  hint  of  conven- 
tionalities of  any  kind.  The  picturesque  element  was  not 
lacking,  and  the  ludicrous  side  of  life  was  ever  present. 
Looking  a  few  feet  up  the  hillside  through  the  flying  snow 
I  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  woman  who,  attired  in  her  husband's 
trousers,  was  turning  flapjacks  on  a  "  Yukon  stove,"  utterly 
unconscious  of  the  ridiculous  appearance  she  presented. 
The  "  Yukon  stove,"  by  the  way,  is  a  small  sheet  iron  box 
with  an  oven  at  the  back  and  a  telescope  pipe.  Novices 
sometimes  have  to  stud}^  a  moment  to  decide  which  is  the 
oven  and  which  is  the  fire-box.  This  simple  arrangement  is 
set  on  a  "  gridiron,"  that  is,  three  poles  about  eight  feet 
long,  so  that  when  the  snow  melts  underneath,  the  poles 
continue  to  form  a  support  for  it.  Necessity  is  nowhere  a 
more  fruitful  mother  of  invention  than  in  Alaska. 

Joe  and  I  confined  ourselves  to  beans  and  bacon,  a 
staple  dish  in  these  regions;  indeed,  an  odor  of  beans  and 
bacon  predominates  in  nearly  all  the  camps  along  the  trail. 
AVe  lighted  our  pipes  and  sat  close  to  the  little  stove  to  dry 
our  clothing.  Mingled  with  the  sighing  of  the  wind  and 
the  soft  beating  of  the  snow  on  the  tent,  came  the  shrill 
voice  of  one  of  the  dance-house  girls  singing  a  hackneyed 
air. 

"  It  will  be  new  on  the  Yukon,"  observed  Joe,  as  he 
threw  himself  full  length  on  the  bed  of  boughs,  and  he  was 
asleep  before  I  had  time  to  follow.  I  went  out  and  care- 
fully brushed  the  snow  off  the  roof  of  the  tent  before  re- 
tiring, for  I  had  learned  the  importance  of  such  a  measure 
in  roughing  it  in  an  even  milder  climate.  If  the  interior  of 
the  tent  is  heated,  the  snow  falling  on  the  outside  will,  of 


76  SEVEN   MILES   IN   FOUR   DAYS 

course,  become  claiiij),  aiul,  later,  when  the  lire  has  gone 
down  or  out,  aud  the  interior  has  become  cold,  the  damp 
snow  will  freeze  so  hard  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  take 
down  the  tent.  Many  found  this  out  to  their  sorrow  when 
the  next  day  they  started  to  move  ahead.  The  stonn  had 
been  a  cold  one,  and  it  was  hours  before  they  could  pack 
their  tents,  and  then  they  were  weighted  with  ice  and  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  handle.  People  can  cause  themselves 
a  world  of  trouble  in  Alaska  by  neglecting  a  few  details. 

We  were  four  days  in  moving  our  stores  to  Sheep  Camp, 
^\•hicll  is  al)0ut  seven  miles  further  on.  For  the  first  two 
miles  we  could  haul  about  three  hundred  pounds,  but 
through  the  canon  it  was  only  by  the  greatest  exertion  that 
we  could  pull  one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  trail  was  much 
better  from  Pleasant  Camp,  on  the  other  side  of  the  caiion, 
to  Sheej)  Camp,  but  it  was  up-hill  all  the  way.  It  snowed 
continuously,  sometimes  gently,  and  occasionally  furiously. 

A  trail  in  Alaska  should  not  be  confused  with  the  ordi- 
nary highway  of  settled  states.  When  a  trail  is  spoken  of 
as  existing  between  two  points  in  Alaska  it  has  no  further 
meaning  than  that  a  man,  and  possibly  a  beast  of  burden, 
may  travel  that  way  over  the  natural  surface  of  the  ground. 
There  is  a  very  strong  improbability  concerning  the  beast, 
unless  it  be  a  dog.  The  path  may  consist  of  nothing  more 
than  a  marked  or  blazed  way  through  an  otherwise  impen- 
etrable wilderness,  and  unless  it  is  used  more  or  less  con- 
tinuously the  traces  are  apt  to  disappear  in  one  of  Alaska's 
seasons.  Xo  eager  prospector  stops  to  make  it  any  easier 
for  someone  else.  A  man  carrving  his  food,  his  cooking 
utensils,  and  working  tools  on  his  back,  has  no  time  nor  dis- 
position to  cut  down  trees.  When  he  comes  to  an  unfrozen 
stream  he  wades  it,  or  if  a  tree  has  fallen  across  it,  so  mucli 


ALONG  DYEA  CANON  79 

tlio  better.  The  Cliilkoot  trail  2)ossesses  the  advantage  of 
having  been  nsed  by  miners  since  1880,  but  it  was  hiid  ont 
1:»y  Indians,  who  are  too  lazy  to  improve  it;  and,  besides, 
they  make  a  living  because  it  is  almost  impossible  for  pack 
animals  to  go  over  it.  The  opening  of  Alaska  may  put  an 
end  to  all  this,  so  far  as  the  Dyea  trail  is  concerned. 

Dyea  Canon  is  a  crevice  in  the  mountains  about  two 
miles  long  and  fifty  feet  wide,  with  a  raging  river  at  the 
bottom.  The  topography  abruptly  changes.  Great  boul- 
ders are  piled  in  confused  heaps,  and  the  snow-laden  stumps 
of  trees  and  upturned  roots  stick  out  in  fantastic  shapes. 
We  kept  to  the  iee  when  we  could,  but  frequently  took 
to  steeper  and  rougher  }>aths.  For  a  short  distance  the 
grade  is  about  eighteen  degrees,  until  an  elevation  of  five 
hundred  feet  is  reached,  and  then  the  trail  descends  slightly 
to  Pleasant  Camp,  which  is  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the 
canon.  It  is  a  spot  which  is  anything  Init  "  pleasant,"  ac- 
cording to  the  significance  of  that  term  in  civilized  regions. 
It  is  applied  here  because  a  few  trees  have  had  the  good 
fortune  to  get  a  living  there,  and  they  afford  a  kind  of 
shelter  and  a  convenient  place  for  a  camp. 

The  trail  from  Pleasant  Camp  to  Sheep  Camp  was  fairly 
good,  at  an  average  elevation  of  five  hundred  feet,  and  with 
but  few  shnr])  jiitches.  The  cam]!  itself  is  in  a  valley  or 
canon  about  half  a  mile  wide,  with  very  high,  steep,  and 
rocky  mountains  on  either  side.  The  white  summit  of  the 
Chilkoot  towers  three  thousand  feet  above,  but  we  caught 
only  glimpses  of  it  in  the  fickle  storm.  Xo  timber  grows 
above  us.  It  is  a  frowning  ]ficture  and  it  tells  on  faint 
hearts.  As  we  slowly  dragged  our  loads,  we  met  more  than 
one  mau  who  had  turned  back,  unt  caring  to  l)rave  the  ]iass 
for  all  the  oold  tliat  niiiiht  be  on  the  other  side.      Alaska 


80   SHEEP  CAMP   AND   ITS   REVELATIONS   OF   CHARACTER 

is  no  place  for  a  man  who,  becoming-  discouragecl  at  the  hrst 
serious  obstacle  that  presents  itself,  leaves  a  camp  where  \w 
sees  women  keeping  up  hearts  as  strong  as  iron,  and  turns 
his  back. 

Sheep  Camp  is  a  favorable  ])lace  to  discover  the  differ- 
ence in  men  and  to  see  what  some  women  are  made  of.  AVe 
came  across  one  man  completely  disheartened  and  limp, 
right  at  the  foot  of  that  great  climb  of  three  thousand  five 
hundred  feet,  pleading  piteously  with  his  wife  to  turn  back, 
while  she,  not  half  his  size,  but  with  wonderful  nerve, 
bustled  about  their  snowy  camp  in  the  bitter  cold,  con- 
stantly wearing  a  smile  and  cheering  up  her  forlorn  mate 
in  every  possible  way.  How  will  slie  get  him  over  the  sum- 
mit? I  thought.  But  she  did.  She  just  told  him  that  she 
was  going-  over  anyho^v,  and  that  if  he  wanted  to  go  back  he 
could.  She  had  a  woman's  shrewdness.  She  knew  that, 
much  as  he  feared  to  go  ahead  with  her,  he  would  not  dare 
to  go  back  without  her. 

Shortly  after  pitching-  our  tent  at  Sheep  Camp  I  looked 
out  and  saw  a  slim  woman  swinging  an  axe  at  a  small  hem- 
lock. Her  tent  was  near  l)y  and  she  seemed  to  be  alone. 
With  a  spirit  of  gallantly,  Avhich,  T  am  glad  to  say,  is  never 
altogether  lost  in  mining  life,  I  walked  over  and  offered 
my  assistance.  She  wanted  the  tree  for  a  fire,  and  I  soon 
had  it  in  front  of  her  tent  ready  for  a  blaze.  She  had  been 
making  trips  to  the  summit  of  the  pass  all  day,  carrying 
packs  of  twenty-five  pounds,  and  was  then  preparing  the 
camp  for  her  husband,  who  had  gone  to  the  summit  with 
the  last  load.  Her  clothes  were  wet  through;  she  was  lame 
and  tired,  but  she  laughed  good-naturedly  as  she  told  me 
some  of  her  experiences  on  the  awful  trail,  how  she  had 
slipped  ofi"  a  log  and  fallen  into  the  river  and  an  Indian 


EXHILARATING    FREEDOM  81 

had  pulled  lier  out  by  the  collar  of  the  thick  coat  she 
wore. 

But  it  must  not  be  thought  that  all  women  along  the 
trail  were  as  brave  as  tliis.  There  were  exceptions.  I  saw 
one  sitting  down  and  having  a  good  cry,  crying  for  home 
and  other  women  to  talk  to,  perhaps,  for  carpets,  and 
baker's  bread,  and  the  gossip  of  the  city,  and  the  comforts 
of  civilized  life.  Her  husband,  who  was  pretty  blue  him- 
self, was  tiying  to  comfort  her.  I  noticed  that  she  still 
clung  to  her  petticoats.  One  could  not  fail  to  notice  many 
instances,  however,  in  which  tlie  women  seemed  to  show  a 
fortitude  superior  to  the  men.  It  was  a  revelation,  almost  a 
mystery.  But  after  a  wliile  I  began  to  account  for  it  as  the 
natural  result  of  an  escape  from  the  multitude  of  social 
customs  and  restraints  which  in  civilized  society  hedge 
about  a  woman's  life.  Hardened  miners  enter  on  the 
Alaskan  trail  as  a  sort  of  gi'im  business,  something  a  little 
worse  than  they  have  been  accustomed  to,  and  yet  much  the 
same.  The  stimulus  received  from  the  novelty  of  the  situ- 
ation is  much  less  than  in  the  case  of  a  woman,  especially 
one  who  has  not  been  used  to  roughing  it.  She  steps  out 
of  her  dreSvS  into  trousers  in  a  region  where  nobody  cares. 
Her  nature  suddenly  becomes  aware  of  a  freedom  which 
is  in  a  way  exhilarating.  She  has,  as  it  were,  thro\\Ti  off 
the  fetters  which  civilized  society  imposes,  and  while  re- 
taining her  womanliness  she  becomes  something  more  than 
a  mere  woman.  Her  sensitive  nature  is  charmed  with 
the  new  conditions,  and  her  husband,  who  has  had  the 
advantage  of  no  such  metamorphosis,  sits  down,  tired 
and  disheartened  by  the  obstacles  in  his  path,  and  marvels 
at  his  wife  as  she  drags  her  heavv  rubber  boots  throuch  the 


82  THE    THUNDKKOUS   CRASH    OP   FALLING    ICE 

snow  and  climbs;  with  a  light  liL-art  the  precipices  of  mighty 
mountains. 

Tlie  weather  was  fairly  good  wdiile  Ave  were  bringing 
our  stores  up  to  Sheep  Camp,  but  as  soon  as  we  had  them 
settled  there  and  were  ready  to  begin  on  the  summit  it  be- 
came ferociously  cold.  The  mercury  fell  to  eighteen  de- 
grees below  zero,  the  snow  flew  at  intervals,  and  at  times 
the  wind  would  swoop  down  through  the  valley  like  an 
avalanche,  rolling  from  the  great  peaks  above  us.  On  one 
side  of  the  valley  is  a  large  glacier.  We  could  stand  at  the 
entrance  of  our  tent,  looking  across  the  canon,  and  see  it 
very  plainly,  about  two  miles  a^vay.  A  w^all  of  ice  eighty 
or  ninety  feet  high  marked  its  lower  end,  and  occasionally 
a  great  piece  of  ice  would  break  off  and  c»me  rolling  down 
into  the  valley.  Tlie  earth  would  tremble  and  the  roar  of 
the  mighty  crash  was  like  a  |>eal  of  distant  thunder  through 
the  mountain  gorges.  TA^dce  while  I  was  watching  I  saw 
gTeat  pieces  of  ice  many  times  larger  than  the  great  sky- 
scraping  buildings  of  Chicago  break  away  and  come  tumb- 
ling into  the  caiion  below. 

The  scenery  was  sublime,  but  the  weather  continued 
abominable  and  we  were  detained  at  this  camp  for  Uyo 
weeks.  Few  thought  of  venturing  over  the  summit  under 
such  conditions.  The  wind  must  be  still  and  tlie  sky  clear. 
Once,  when  the  prospects  seemed  brighter,  we  strapped  on 
our  packs  and  started  out,  but  soon  it  began  to  storm  again. 
"We  met  a  party  of  Indians  and  prospectors  who  had  started 
earlier  and  had  cached  some  of  their  goods  at  a  ]>oint  well 
up  on  the  trail  and  were  going  back  to  wait  again.  They 
warned  us  that  it  was  dangerous  to  attempt  an  ascent,  but 
as  we  had  light  packs  and  tho  wind  was  blowing  in  our 
direction  we  decided  to  push  ahead.     The  trail  grew  worse, 


AMONG   THE    SILENT    HILLS  83 

the  wind  increased  and  sifted  the  snow  across  the  track 
so  that  we  could  not  fail  to  recognize  the  serious  dangers 
of  a  misstep.  And  so  we  followed  the  others  back  to 
camp. 

It  was  a  very  dreary  camp  during  those  two  weeks. 
There  was  no  laughter  there.  The  everlasting  hills  and 
the  apparently  everlasting  storm  hung  over  the  little  valley 
like  a  harsh  penalty.  Difficult  as  it  is  to  follow  the  trails, 
there  is  nothing  so  hard  as  to  keep  still  in  these  regions, 
especially  when  the  mercury  is  far  below  zero.  We  got 
along  very  comfortably,  however,  as  our  tent  was  a  good 
one  and  we  had  plenty  of  blankets.  There  were  about  a 
hundred  others  in  the  camp,  but  they  kept  closely  to  their 
tents  most  of  the  time.  Indeed,  wdien  the  wind  went  down 
the  stillness  over  that  little  clump  of  white  habitations 
among  the  stunted  trees  was  almost  appalling.  No  hum  of 
industry  or  sound  of  sociability  disturbed  the  silence.  Cut 
oif  from  the  world,  a  man  feels  himself  dwindling  into  a 
mere  atom  amkl  these  silent,  everlasting  hills.  He  feels 
almost  like  speaking  in  whispers  when,  suddenly,  on  the  op- 
pressive stillness  there  breaks  a  sharp  report  like  a  claj?  of 
thunder,  and  it  goes  on  roaring,  and  dies  away  grumbling 
and  murmuring  amid  the  mountains.  Then  all  is  still 
again.  A  glacier  has  moved.  Here  is  where  iSTature 
is  working.  She  is  young  yet,  the  hills  have  not  been 
ground  down.  But  in  her  youthful,  untamed  moods  she  is 
terrible. 

The  anomaly  presented  by  the  region  forced  itself  more 
clearly  upon  us  when  we  considered  that  we  were  practi- 
cally in  the  same  latitude  as  St.  Petersburg,  where  the  bril- 
liant court  of  a  great  enrpirc  is  held.  AVe  were  still  eight 
hundred  miles  south  of  the  Arctic  Circle.     We  were  hardly 


84  THE   CAMP    ASTIK. 

iivc  huiulreJ  feet  above  tlie  sea  level,  but  in  an  inhospitable 
region,  where  heroic  courage  and  endurance  are  requisites; 
a  wilderness  with  the  snow  and  ice  around  and  above  us. 

At  last  the  clouds  passed  away,  and  the  sun  shone  out 
for  a  time  with  dazzling  brightness.  The  white  peaks  above 
us  fairly  glowed.     The  little  camp  was  alive. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  DREADED  CHILKOOT  PASS  — HOW  WE  CROSSED  IT 
—  SLIDING  DOWN  THE  MOUNTAINS  AT  LIGHTNING 
SPEED  — "THERE  COMES  A  WOMAN." 

A  Steep  Trail  —  Climbing  the  Mountain  Forty  Times  —  Some  of  the 
Diiliculties  —  Missteps  that  are  Dangerous  —  Straight  up  over 
Seven  Hundred  Feet  —  An  Obscure  Summit  —  Facilitating  the  Re- 
turn— Trousers  Fortified  with  a  Canvas  Patch  —  A  Slide  in  the 
Trench  —  Tobogganing  Outdone  —  A  Collision  —  Out  of  Sight  in 
the  Deep  Snow —  "  There  Comes  a  Woman  "  —  Down  Like  a  Flash 

—  Runaway  Sleds  —  An  Alaskan  Sunburn  —  Snow-blindness  —  A 
Painful  Experience  —  On  the  Summit  at  Last  —  A  Grand  Spectacle 

—  Turning  Sleds  Loose  down  the  Mountain  —  Bounding  over 
Crater  Lake  —  Lake  Lindeman  —  Observing  the  Timber — The  Ir- 
responsible Indian  —  Signaling  by  Burning  Trees  —  Ice-sledding 
across  Lindeman  —  Lake  Bennett — Flapjacks  and  Congratulations. 

FROM  Sheep  Camp  to  tlie  summit  of  Chilkoot  Pass  is 
about  four  miles,  and  we  determined  to  carry  all 
our  things  up  on  our  backs.  The  trail  was  so  steep 
most  of  the  way  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  haul 
more  than  a  hundred  pounds  on  a  sled,  and  added  to  this 
would  be  the  weight  of  the  sled.  The  latter  part  of  the 
way  is  altogether  too  perpendicular  for  comfortable  sled- 
ding. It  is  a  steady  ascent  from  the  camp  to  the  "  Scales," 
which  is  a  flat  place  at  the  fqot  of  ^'  the  last  climb."  The 
grade  from  the  camp  to  Stone  House,  so  called  because 
nature  seems  to  have  arranged  the  rocks  with  more  sym- 
metry than  usual,  and  that  is  saying  very  little,  is  from 
6  (85) 


86  FORTY    TRIPS   TO    THE    SUMMIT 

twelve  to  eiiilitecn  degrees;  from  tlicre  to  the  **  Scales  "  it 
is  about  twenty-five  degrees,  aud  from  that  place  to  the 
summit  about  thirty  degrees,  though  the  last  ascent  is 
nearer  thirty-five.  The  ascent  is  one  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  in  the  first  three  miles,  and  one  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty  in  the  next  mvle. 

This  does  not  look  great  on  paper,  and  it  is  not;  for 
mountain  climbers  are  every  day  ascending  steeps  as  great 
and  twice  as  high.  But  they  are  not  compelled  to  take 
along  all  they  are  to  have  to  eat,  to  wear,  and  to  use  for  a 
year  or  more.  Therein  lies  one  of  the  main  difficulties  in 
proceeding  to  the  interior  of  Alaska.  If  one  could  depend 
upon  warehouses  within  easy  reach,  could  buy  what  he 
wanted  as  he  journeyed  from  place  to  place,  traveling  in 
Alaska  would  have  a  few  pleasures  in  it.  At  least  it  would 
not  be  difficult. 

Joe  and  I  were  compelled  to  make  forty  trips  over  these 
steep  places  to  get  our  outfit  to  the  summit,  and  climbing  a 
mountain  forty  times  with  a  heavy  pack  on  the  back  is  dif- 
ferent from  climbing  it  once  almost  empty-handed  and  for 
fun.  Many  took  all  their  goods  to  the  Stone  House  at  first, 
and  then  by  another  stage  carried  them  to  the  "  Scales  " ; 
then  by  another  to  the  summit.  AVe  adopted  difl^erent  tac- 
tics. Having  strapped  our  packs  on,  we  continued  to  the 
foot  of  the  last  ascent,  and  there  if  the  weather  was  bad  we 
would  leave  them,  otherwise  we  continued  on  to  the  sum- 
mit. As  the  wind  was  blowing  most  of  the  time,  this  re- 
sulted in  our  having  most  of  our  outfit  at  the  foot  of  the 
final  ascent  before  we  had  many  opportunities  to  view  the 
summit,  or  any  at  all  to  indulge  in  a  view  from  it. 

The  trail  up  to  the  "  Scales  "  looks  smooth  when  the 
snow  lies  decjD  OA^er  it,  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  difficult,  and 


A   TREACHEROUS    TRAIL  87 

by  a  single  misstep  the  traveler  may  find  himself  bnried  to 
the  armpits.  Underneath  are  great  masses  of  rocks,  and 
part  of  the  way  fallen  trees,  but  the  timber  belt  ends  com- 
pletely at  Stone  House.  One  of  the  difficulties  in  the 
ascent  lay  in  successfully  passing  those  who  were  descend- 
ing for  another  load,  for  the  way  is  exceedingly  narrow, 
and  one  must  not  step  out  of  the  trail  except  with  the  great- 
est caution.  Occasionally  a  man  would  find  himself  at  the 
bottom  of  a  crevice  forty  feet  or  so  below  the  trail,  and  he 
could  make  his  way  back  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 

The  last  climb  of  nearly  seven  hundred  feet  up  a  moun- 
tain peak  that  seemed  to  rise  almost  straight  before  us  was 
the  hardest  of  all.  The  trail  winds  in  zigzag  fashion  in  and 
around  the  boulders  and  over  the  glacial  streaks,  but  at  this 
time  it  was  covered  with  snow,  in  some  places  fifty  feet  deep. 
In  tlie  steeper  places  steps  were  cut  in  the  ice  and  snow, 
and  in  taking  a  pack  up  one  was  compelled  to  lean  forward 
and  use  his  hands  on  the  icy  steps.  Occasionally  a  tired 
man  would  make  a  misstep,  or  his  foothold  caved  off,  and 
down  the  precipice  he  rolled,  landing  in  the  soft  snow,  from 
which  he  had  to  extricate  himself  and  again  attempt  the 
tiresome  climb.  Its  was  drudgery  in  its  simplest  and  purest 
form.  One  hundred  pounds  was  the  most  that  either  of  us 
could  take,  and  then  it  required  an  hour  to  cover  that  seven 
hundred  feet  to  the  summit,  which  we  generally  found 
covered  with  a  blinding  snow  storm  or  bathed  in  an  ice-fog. 

Fortunately,  in  returning  we  could  make  up  for  lost 
time.  So  steep  and  so  treacherous  was  the  trail,  and  so 
many  were  working  up  it,  that  the  descent  by  the  steps  for 
another  load  was  as  trying  work  as  the  ascent.  The  grim 
mother  of  invention  again  came  to  the  rescue.  Nearly 
everybody  fortified  the  seat  of  his  trousers  by  sewing  on  a 


S8  LIKE   RIDING   AN   AVALANCHE 

piece  of  canvas,  aiul  as  there  was  a  short  cut  back  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  trail,  straight  and  smooth  bnt  too  steep  to  climb, 
it  was  brought  into  use  for  the  purposes  of  returning,  a 
trench  being  formed  thereby.  One  would  sit  down  in  this 
trench  at  the  top,  and  just  hold  his  breath  till  he  struck  the 
bottom.  He  need  not  hold  it  long.  It  took  less  time  to  slide 
down  than  it  takes  to  tell  of  it.  Once  started  there  was  no 
opportunity  to  stop,  and  no  time  to  consider  such  a  question. 
I  remember  that  at  the  first  trial  I  picked  myself  out  of  the 
snow"  and  thought  I  would  give  up  that  sport.  It  seemed  a 
little  too  much  like  riding  an  avalanche  bareback,  I  was 
so  much  larger  and  heavier  than  the  rest  that  gravity  gave 
me  a  greater  speed.  In  places  the  ditch  was  as  much  as 
four  feet  deep,  but  in  other  places  it  w\as  shallow,  and  there 
was  danger  of  jumping  the  track.  Once  I  ran  into  a  little 
man  and  w^as  thrown  completely  out  of  the  groove.  Down 
the  mountain  side  I  plowed,  plunging  entirely  out  of  sight 
in  the  soft  snow  at  the  bottom.  I  picked  myself  out  and 
was  not  in  the  least  hurt.  The  little  man  righted  himself 
somehow,  and  came  doAMi  the  groove  in  good  order.  After 
awhile  the  experience  began  to  have  the  flavor  of  true  sport, 
and  the  more  we  tried  it  the  better  we  liked  it. 

The  women  Avere  a  little  timid  at  first,  but  they  looked 
as  if  they  would  like  to  try  it.  "  I'll  try  it  if  you  w^ill," 
they  kept  saying  to  one  another.  Standing  at  the  bottom 
and  seeing  men  come  down  the  seven-hundred-foot  groove, 
it  looked  easy,  but  when  standing  at  the  summit  and  looking 
down  was  something  appalling.  Finally,  as  w^e  were  about 
to  start  up  with  a  pack,  some  one  shouted,  "  There  comes  a 
woman." 

We  could  see  her  fidgeting  a  little  at  the  top;  tlien  she 
WTapped  her  coat  about  her,  dropped  into  the  trench,  and 


COASTING   DOWN  THE   HILLS  89 

down  she  came  like  a  flash.  She  picked  herself  up  out  of 
the  snow  rosy  and  smiling.  Then  this  method  of  descent 
became  general.  They  seemed  to  enjoy  it  as  much  as  the 
men,  but  most  of  those  whom  I  saw  going  down  were  of  the 
(lance-hall  variety.  It  appeared  to  be  a  little  too  much  for 
the  staider  matrons,  even  in  men's  clothes. 

Occasionally,  on  our  way  back  to  Sheep  Camp  for  a  load 
we  also  saved  a  little  time  by  securing  a  ride  on  some  one's 
sled.  There  was  one  hill,  quite  steep  and  over  a  mile  long. 
By  having  one  man  to  guide  the  sled,  and  another  to  run  a 
stout  stick  down  through  the  center  for  a  brake,  a  small  load 
of  men  could  slide  to  the  bottom  in  a  very  short  time,  and 
generally  without  mishap.  An  experienced  man  will  guide 
these  sleds  with  a  pole  about  six  feet  long  very  cleverly,  but 
the  inexperienced  sometimes  make  bad  work.  There  were 
nmaway  sleds  about  every  day,  and  generally  some  one  was 
hurt.  But  in  such  places  nothing  is  serious,  so  long  as  a 
man  escapes  with  his  life. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  milder  winter  months  only  that 
the  difficult  ascent  can  be  varied  with  such  amusements  as 
these.  After  the  snow  has  melted  the  trail  becomes  one  of 
confused  boulders,  roaring  streams,  and  creviced  glaciers. 
To  be  sure,  we  suffered  from  the  cold,  and  sometimes 
severely,  but,  on  the  Avhole,  going  over  the  summit  is  much 
pleasanter  at  this  season  than  in  the  rains  of  the  summer 
months,  when  the  trails  quickly  become  muddy  and  the 
streams  must  be  forded. 

On  my  trip  over  I  suffered  from  sunburn  more  than 
anything  else.  It  may  sound  strange  to  speak  of  sunburn 
when  clambering  over  snow  many  feet  deep,  but  when  in 
Alaska  the  sun  begins  to  shine,  it  is  wnth  a  blazing  fierce- 
ness.    My  epidermis  was  well  hardened  before  I  started  for 


90  SUNBURN   AND   SNOW-BLINDNESS 

Alaska,  but  some  of  the  time,  wliile  working  over  the  pass, 
my  face  became  so  swollen  that  I  could  hardly  see  out  of  my 
eyes.  It  was  exceedingly  painful,  and  often  kept  me 
awake  nights  when  T  was  very  tired.  AVhen  the  wind  blew 
and  the  snow  flew,  my  face  would  smart  as  if  burned  by 
steam.  Many  of  us  learned  to  blacken  our  faces  with  burnt 
cork  or  charcoal,  and  this  served  not  simply  to  protect  the 
skin  somewhat,  but  to  protect  the  eyes.  AVe  were  gruesome 
objects  with  our  black  faces  and  goggles.  Snow-blindness 
was  another  serious  danger.  Snow  glasses  are  an  absolute 
necessity  in  Alaska,  and  especially  when  going  over  the 
snowy  passes  in  the  full  blaze  of  the  sun ;  and  one  must  be 
very  careful  about  taking  them  oif.  Occasionally,  when 
several  of  us  would  be  trudging  up  the  steep  path  together  a 
cry  would  be  heard.  Some  one  had  suddenly  become  snow 
blind,  and  had  to  be  led  back  to  camp.  Such  unfortunates 
would  suffer  intense  pain,  and  would  not  regain  their  sight 
for  three  or  four  days. 

But  at  last  we  have  reached  the  summit  of  that  snow- 
wrapped  peak  towards  which  we  have  been  making  our  wa}'- 
for  twenty-three  days.  Fifteen  miles  in  twentv-tliree 
days!  After  such  a  journey  there  should  be  something 
besides  the  mere  consolation  of  having  at  last  conquered  the 
obstacles  in  the  path.  There  is.  It  is  a  great  temptation 
not  to  throw  off  the  snow-glasses,  as  we  stand  on  that 
dazzling  summit.  The  clouds  have  been  blown  away  for  a 
time.  The  whole  scene  lies  under  the  fierce  sunlight  of  an 
Alaskan  April  day. 

And  what  a  picture!  It  seems  not  of  this  world;  it 
is  so  strange,  so  unique.  Almost  at  our  feet  is  the  little 
armlet  of  the  Pacific  which  we  left  nearly  a  month  ago, 
and  bevond  that  and  this  side  of  the  great  Pacific  a  hun- 


"nature's  fierce  artillery"  91 

dred  miles  away,  stretch  the  snow  peaks  and  their  shining 

glaciers. 

"  Silence  reigus!  the  awful  stillness 
Like  a  phantom  presence  lingers 
All  unseen,  but  felt  so  plainly 
That  it  seems  to  touch  the  senses. 

"Far  away  the  mountain  ranges 
Pile  in  wild  unclassed  confusion, 
Eagged  peaks,  extinct  volcanoes, 
Rounded  knolls  and  wave-like  hillocks 
Clustering  near  or  stretching  outward 
Far  beyond  our  wondering  vision: 
Snow-clad  all,  or  maybe  sliiniug 
Underneath  an  icy  garment. 
Glacier,  cliff,  and  mountain  shoulder 
Leaning  close  against  the  other, 
By  the  ice-keen  chisels  blended, 
Until  ice  and  stone  are  welded 
In  a  firm  eternal  union. 

"  Crash  and  boom!  the  silence  wakens 
With  a  shock,  whose  mighty  roaring 
Rends  the  clouds  with  thunderous  pealing! 
Sends  its  varying  detonations 
Rolling  o'er  the  bay's  clear  surface! 
Bounding  forth  o'er  mountain  summits 
Where  their  echoes  catch  its  thunders 
And  repeat  them  loudly,  wildly, 
As  if  Nature's  fierce  artillery 
Joined  its  mightiest  cannonading 
In  one  grand,  triumphant  salvo! 
In  a  thousand-voiced  announcement 
Of  an  iceberg's  bold  departure 
On  its  evanescent  journey." 


Turning  in  the  other  direction  we  behold  the  hills  mel^ 
ing  nway  into  the  great  watershed  of  the  mighty  Yukon, 
which  runs  its  winding  course  to  the  Bering  Sea  throe  thou- 
sand miles.      At  our  feet  lies  the  first  of  the  frozen  lakes.;  a 


0'2  ACROBATIC   INDIANS 

body  of  water  lying  in  an  okl  crater  and  now  covered  with 
ice  and  snow.  This  is  the  next  stage  of  our  journey,  and 
the  old  adage  that  it  is  easier  to  fall  than  to  climb  was  illus- 
trated in  Chilkoot  style.  The  descent  to  the  lake,  which  is 
five  hundred  feet,  is  smooth  and  straight,  and  the  Indians, 
wlu)  were  packing  for  parties  on  the  trail,  securely  tied  their 
])acks  to  sleds,  mounted  them  as  a  clown  would  mount  a 
circus  donkey,  and  off  they  went.  The  sleds  shot  down  the 
decline  with  terrific  speed  and  bounded  off  on  to  the  frozen 
lake,  sometimes  going  eight  hundred  yards  before  stopping. 
But  for  the  snow^  they  would  have  gone  much  further. 
Sometimes  a  sled  would  swerve  a  little  or  strike  a  slight  ob- 
stacle and  the  Indians  would  fly  off  into  the  air  and  roll  like 
bimdles  to  the  lake.  A -perpendicular  bank  about  six  feet 
high  stretches  around  the  lake,  and  this  the  sleds  would 
clear  with  a  long  leap  to  the  ice  below,  and  he  was  a  good 
Indian  who  stuck. 

As  the  sleds  seemed  to  go  equally  well  without  Indians 
as  with,  we  concluded  to  let  ours  go  alone.  They  behaved 
nicely,  and  clambering  down  the  decline  after  them  we 
drew  them  on  across  the  lake,  where  they  were  unloaded, 
and  we  then  pulled  them  back  for  another  load  and  a  slide. 
At  the  end  of  the  lake  we  cached  our  provisions  and  pushed 
on  with  our  tent  and  a  few  articles  to  Lake  Lindeman.  The 
trail  at  this  season  is  not  difficult,  as  trails  go  in  Alaska. 
The  lakes  were  frozen  and  the  only  impediment  on  them 
was  the  snow,  wdiich  in  plac-es  was  soft  and  wet.  The 
lengthening  days  were  beginning  to  have  their  effect  on  the 
lower  lands.  Crater  Lake  is  not  more  than  a  mile  in 
diameter,  and  the  outlet  is  over  a  lava  bed  of  rough  boulders. 
Long  Lake  lies  a  little  lower,  and  is  studded  with  glaciers. 
The  traveling  becomes  tedious,  difficult,  and  slow,  and  the 


LAKE   LINDEMAN  93 

greatest  care  must  be  used  in  places,  the  dangers  of  which 
may  be  hidden  by  the  weakening  snow.  After  passing 
Deep  Lake,  we  follow  a  dim  trail,  almost  indiscernible  at 
times,  and  then,  from  the  top  of  a  rough  little  hill,  Lake 
Lindeman  lies  below. 

It  is  said  to  be  less  than  ten  miles  from  the  summit  to 
Lindeman.  It  seems  twice  that  distance,  but  we  managed 
to  bring  up  our  entire  outfit  in  four  trips,  and  were  the  best 
part  of  three  days  in  doing  it.  In  the  summer  we  were  told 
the  natives  maintained  what  were  called  ferries  on  this 
chain  of  little  lakes,  but  the  charges  were  enormous  and 
many  preferred  to  keep  to  the  trails,  trying  though  they 
were. 

From  the  Stone  House  to  the  vicinity  of  Lindeman  not 
enough  wood  can  be  found  to  start  a  fire.  At  first  we  came 
to  little  clumps  of  short,  scrubby  pines  or  spruce,  scarcely 
three  feet  high  and  twisted  into  all  sorts  of  fantastic  shapes 
by  the  winter  gales,  but  around  Lindeman  could  be  found  a 
few  fair-sized  trees,  though  few  were  over  thirty  feet  high. 
They  are  mainly  confined  to  varieties  of  spruce,  yellow 
cedar,  hemlock,  and  balsam  fir,  but  spruce  everywhere  pre- 
dominates, and  its  lumber  resembles  that  of  southern  or 
pitch  pine.  The  hemlock  is  less  plentiful.  White  spruce 
is  the  staple  timber,  and  though  in  some  places  near  running 
streams  it  attains  the  height  of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
feet,  it  is  most  commonly  found  below  forty,  and  averaging 
about  fifteen  inches  at  the  butt.  It  is  a  fairly  clear  white 
wood,  straight  grained,  and  easily  worked,  light,  and  yet 
very  tough.  It  endures  the  weather  well,  and  a  log 
house  built  of  it  is  good  for  over  twenty  years.  It  abounds 
in  a  light  and  delicate  looking  gum,  and  those  addicted  to 
the  chewing-gum  habit  can  always  be  sure  of  a  supply. 


94  SIGNALING   BY   BURNING   TREES 

Good  timber,  however,  was  not  plentiful  at  Lindeman, 
even  at  this  time.  Much  of  it  had  been  burnt  off.  In  the 
summer,  we  are  told,  when  the  Indians  are  resting  on  their 
journeys  and  are  pestered  bv  insects,  they  set  fire  to  the 
leaves  and  twigs  about  them  and  then  sit  in  the  dense  smoke 
which  keeps  a  few  of  the  mosquitoes  at  a  distance.  After 
his  rest  the  native  goes  fonvard  without  extinguishing  his 
fire,  and  as  the  vegetation  is  rank  and  inflammable  in  the 
long  summer  days,  the  fire  quickly  spreads  to  the  trees  and 
to  the  forests.  The  Indian  also  has  a  way  of  signaling  by 
burning  trees.  When  in  a  locality  wdiere  he  expects  to  find 
his  friends  or  family,  he  sets  fire  to  a  tall  spruce,  and  then 
calmly  sits  down  and  watches  the  horizon  for  an  answering 
column  of  smoke.  The  wind  will  fan  these  flames  into  a 
fierce  forest  fire  in  a  short  time,  and  the  Indians  are  too  ut- 
terly indifferent  to  think  of  putting  them  out. 

Some  gold  pilgrims,  worn  out  by  the  arduous  tramp  over 
the  pass,  pitched  their  cainps  at  Lake  Lindeman  to  await  the 
]:)reaking  up  of  the  ice,  meanwhile  entering  upon  the  con- 
struction of  a  boat  which  they  fondly  hoped  would  diminish 
the  tediousness  of  the  further  trip.  But  the  ice  was  in  such 
excellent  condition  here  and  the  timber  so  poor  that  we  de- 
cided to  push  on. 

Lake  Lindeman  is  a  narrow  piece  of  water  six  miles  long, 
hemmed  in  with  ragged  hills.  It  is  close  to  the  bound- 
ary line  between  the  territory  of  the  United  States  and  that 
of  Queen  Victoria.  On  the  cone  of  an  immense  boulder  on 
the  left,  as  w^e  looked  down  the  frozen  lake,  fluttered  the 
Stars  and  Stripes,  and  from  another  staff  close  by  waved  the 
ensign  of  Great  Britain.  Both  had  been  tattered  in  the 
gales  from  the  great  regions  of  the  Xorth. 

A  stiff  breeze  was  blowine;  in  our  direction  as  we  started 


SLEDDING   ON   THE   ICE  97 

from  the  head  of  the  lake.  The  snow  was  not  deep  except 
in  spots;  so,  rigging  up  sails  on  our  sleds,  we  fastened  them 
together,  and  away  we  sped  with  a  load  of  one  thousand  two 
hundred  pounds.  This  was  sport.  Taking  a  position  on 
the  back  of  the  sleds  we  used  two  long  poles  as  a  rudder, 
though  it  was  a  severe  task  on  the  arms.  Occasionally  we 
would  run  into  a  drift  of  snow  and  the  speed  would  slacken, 
or  we  might  stop  altogether  while  the  mnd  tore  over  our 
sails  in  a  threatening  manner.  Then  we  would  jump  out, 
pull  tlicm  beyond  the  drift,  jump  on,  and  resume  our  steer- 
ing. In  this  way  we  made  the  length  of  the  lake  in  forty 
minutes.  Others  adopted  the  same  tactics,  and  the  scene 
of  these  ice  sleds  sailing  over  the  lake,  which  seemed  like  a 
great  canon,  was  indeed  picturesque,  and  very  much 
pleasanter  than  the  raft  trips  made  later  in  the  season,  when 
the  wind  is  likely  to  "  kick  up  "  a  lively  sea  and  drench  the 
poor  gold-seeker  and  his  goods.  He  has  usually  by  this 
time  become  so  hardened  and  so  accustomed  to  the  ways  of 
the  country,  that  he  does  not  mind  such  a  little  matter  as  a 
wet  skin,  and  a  camp  in  the  snow  or  on  the  spongy  lowlands. 

The  portage  from  Lake  Lindeman  to  Lake  Bennett  is 
along  a  rocky  canal  which  plunges  into  a  canon  filled  with 
boulders.  The  stream  cut  through  a  wall  of  granite  and 
basaltic  formation  for  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  and  has  a  fall 
of  forty  feet.  The  latter  part  of  the  portage  is  over  a  sandy 
ridge,  away  from  the  stream  and  much  better  traveling. 

Here  many  of  the  gold-seekers  decided  to  camp  and 
build  their  boats,  but  as  the  weather  was  fair  and  the  travel- 
ing on  the  ice  easy,  we  concluded  to  push  to  the  other  end 
of  the  lake,  or  further,  before  going  into  camp.  Lake  Ben- 
nett, so  named  by  Seliwatka  after  James  Gordon  Bennett, 
is  thirtv-four  miles  Ion"',  and  from  one  to  two  miles  in  width. 


98  NO   WORSE   TRAVELING   THIS   SIDE   THE   MOON 

About  foiirtG'en  miles  down,  the  southwest  arm  of  the  lake 
joins  it,  and  from  its  hills  fierce  winds  usually  blow.  Thus 
the  trip  over  the  lake  is  much  more  comfortable  on  the  ice 
than  on  the  water.  We  made  the  first  trip  in  one  day.  The 
wind  favored  us,  and  we  exchanged  services  with  a  man  who 
was  endeavoring  to  take  in  some  horses,  which  helped  us  very 
materially.  On  the  second  trip,  however,  when  compelled 
to  depend  on  ourselves,  we  had  head  winds,  and  we  were 
three  days  in  making  the  single  trip.  It  was  hard  work  at 
that. 

At  Caribou  Crossing,  which  separates  Lake  Bennett 
from  Tagish  Lake,  we  learned  that  there  was  some  open 
water  beyond.  The  crossing  is  a  neck  of  sluggish  river,  and 
is  so  named  because  the  caribou  use  it  in  their  migrations 
south  in  the  spring  and  north  in  the  fall.  The  ice  and  snow 
were  growing  very  soft  under  the  sun  of  the  lengthening 
days,  though  the  air  from  the  peaks  continued  cold.  AVe 
determined  to  halt  at  Tagish  Lake  and  luiild  the  craft  upon 
which  we  were  to  depend  to  take  us  down  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Yukon. 

''  I  guess  the  worst  is  over  for  a  time,"  said  Joe  that 
evening,  as  we  sat  by  the  little  box  of  a  stove  devouring  flap- 
jacks as  fast  as  they  could  be  cooked.,  AVe  both  were 
hungry  and  kept  well  ahead  of  the  stove. 

"  Our  health  has  been  good,  anyhow,"  I  remarked; 
"  but  I  don't  belicA-e  there  is  any  worse  traveling  this  side  of 
the  moon.  And  there  is  one  consolation,  I'm  thinking, 
Joe,  whatever  society  we  have  will  at  least  be  made  up 
of  persons  of  grit.  Anybody  who  gets  over  here  has  got  to 
be  made  of  stout  stuff,  even  though  it  is  put  together  wrong. 
If  you  had  just  sat  down  in  'Frisco  and  told  me  in  detail 
what  this  tramp  would  be,  I  think  I  should  have  looked  on  it 


HUNGRY   PILGRIMS 


99 


as  a  rather  long  and  at  times  agreeable  method  of  premedi- 
tated suicide." 

"  Well,  it  may  amount  to  that  yet,"  said  Joe,  as  he 
turned  over  another  flap  jack,  eagerly  waiting  for  it  to 
brown.  I  had  finished  mine,  and  was  patiently  waiting  for 
my  turn  to  brown  another. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CAMP  LIFE  IN  ALASKA— WE  BUILD  A  BOAT  TO  CONTINUE 
OUlt  JOUKNEY— ADVENTUKES  WITH  BEARS. 

Our  Camp  at  Lake  Tagish  —  Building  a  Boat  —  The  Saw  Pit  —  Pre- 
paring the  Trees  —  WhijJ-sawiug  —  Its  Effect  on  Character  —  An 
Accident  —  Almost  a  Quarrel  —  A  Case  in  Which  Angels  Would 
Lose  their  Amiability  —  Spoiling  the  First  Log  —  "Work  it  Some- 
how"—  The  Dish-Kag  and  the  Dog  —  A  Bargain  —  Adventure  of  a 
New  Yorker  with  a  Bear  and  Three  Cubs  —  An  Excited  Man  — 
He  Empties  His  Gun  and  Nearly  Kills  His  Dog  —  I  Lend  Him 
My  Kifle  —  The  Bear  Finally  Gives  It  Up  ~  Catching  the  Cubs  — 
Tough  Hams  —  Our  Triumphant  Return  —  An  Old  Timer's  Bear 
Story  —  Face  to  Face  with  a  Wounded  Bear  —  Playing  Possum  — 
Just  in  Time  —  A  Narrow  Escape  —  "  Dou"t  Go  Off  Half-Cocked." 

IT  was  the  first  of  May  wlieii  we  went  into  camp  near 
Tagisli  Lake,  which  is  nsnally  reckoned  as  al)ont  sixty 
miles  from  Dyca.  Although  we  had  made  much 
better  time  after  crossing  the  Chilkoot,  we  had  averaged  less 
than  two  miles  a  day  on  the  whole  tramp,  and  now  we  were 
destined  to  lie  in  camp  for  an  indefinite  tiine  while  building 
our  boat  and  waiting  for  the  river  to  be  safely  free  of  ice. 
But  this,  bear  in  mind,  was  before  anything  was  known  of 
the  Klondike.  AVhile  some  were  hurrying  along  as  fast  as 
they  could,  and  faster  than  was  safe,  the  majority  were 
taking  time,  and  really  enjoying  their  rough  fare  in  camp 
after  the  ordeals  of  the  pass.  The  location  was  very  good 
for  camping  purposes,  and  as  four  or  five  other  parties  were 

(100) 


BOAT  BUILDING   AT   TAGISH   LAKE  101 

there  building  their  boats  we  did  not  lack  for  company. 
We  were  also  afforded  a  little  opportunity  to  study  the 
methods  of  boat-building  in  these  primitive  regions.  I 
knew  nothing  at  all  about  the  construction  of  boats  and 
Joe's  experience  had  been  small.  Very  soon  I  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  all  the  knowledge  about  boats  there 
was  in  the  whole  camp  would  not  have  taken  a  man  far 
out  to  sea.  But  Joe  pretended  that  he  knew  all  about  it, 
and  I  had  the  greatest  confidence  in  his  judgment,  mainly 
because  he  had  been  over  the  route  before. 

The  first  essential  in  building  boats  a  la  Yukon  is  to 
know  what  constitutes  suitable  trees,  and  the  next  is  to  find 
them.  Two  logs  w^oulcl  be  sufficient,  if  they  would  cut 
nine-inch  boards,  but  the  great  majority  of  the  trees  will 
not  allow  it.  After  roaming  about  for  some  time  Joe  found 
three  which  he  thought  would  do,  and  these  we  cut  down 
and  dragged  to  a  place  near  the  lake. 

The  next  essential  is  a  "  saw-pit."  As  little  boat-build- 
ing had  been  done  at  this  lake  we  could  not  avail  oureelves 
of  what  someone  else  had  left,  but  had  to  construct  a  pit  of 
our  own.  We  hunted  about  for  four  trees  near  the  beach, 
standing  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  same  relation  to  each 
other  as  the  corners  of  a  rectangular  parallelogram.  These, 
when  found,  we  cut  off  about  six  feet  from  the  ground, 
thus  constituting  the  four  legs  or  support  of  the  platform. 
The  tops  of  these  stumps  were  then  hollowed  out  so  that 
logs  could  be  laid  across  each  pair,  that  is  the  narrow  sides 
of  the  parallelogram.  We  fastened  these  cross-pieces,  after 
a  fashion,  with  spikes,  and  the  saw-pit  was  complete.  The 
only  difficulty  about  this  part  of  the  process  is  that  it  is  hard 
work,  and  takes  time,  and  generally  has  to  be  done  either 
while  it  rains  or  while  it  snows.      The  man  who  travels  in 


102  THE  UNHALLOWED   WHIP-SAW 

Alaska  only  when  the  weather  is  gocxl  will  make  about  a 
mile  a  month,  on  an  average.  And  it  is  a  country  of  mag- 
nificent distances. 

The  pit  being-  ready,  we  squared  off  the  butt  ends  of 
the  logs  and  spotted  them,  that  is,  cut  them  the  right  length, 
and  straightened  them  as  well  as  we  could  with  an  axe. 
Skids  were  then  placed  against  the  pit  and  a  log  was  rolled 
up  to  the  platform  ready  to  be  sawed;  also  two  others  to 
serve  as  a  sort  of  foot-rest  for  the  victim  destined  to  stand 
above.  We  then  peeled  off  the  bark  and  sap-wood,  and 
with  a  chalk-line  marked  off  two  slabs. 

"  You  see,"  said  Joe,  "  that  will  give  you  a  good  place 
on  which  to  stand  and  see  the  chalk-marks  when  we  come 
to  saw  off  the  boards." 

It  looked  very  reasonable,  like  very  many  other  theories 
which  can  be  found  without  taking  the  trouble  and  risk 
of  going  to  Alaska.  "NVe  put  a  wedge  under  the  logs  so 
as  to  prevent  them  from  rolling  while  sawing  off  the  slabs, 
and  tlien  the  sa^\ang  began;  also  the  trouble. 

A  whip-saw  is  a  long,  coarse-toothed  saw,  tapering  to 
one  end  and  with  handles  fixed  to  each  end  at  right  angles. 
It  is  an  invention  of  the  tempter.  It  ought  to  be  sup- 
pressed. No  character  is  strong  enough  to  withstand  it. 
Two  angels  could  not  saw  their  fii-st  log'  with  one  of  these 
things  without  getting  into  a  fight. 

I  learned  this  gi-adually,  however.  I  had  allowed  Joe 
to  boss  all  proceedings,  and  when  he  said  that  I  might  stand 
on  top  while  sawing  off  the  slabs,  I  thought,  perhaps,  that 
out  of  the  goodness  of  his  heart  he  was  gi-anting  me  a  con- 
siderable privilege,  for  the  man  on  top  has  only  to  pull  up 
the  saw  while  the  one  below  imlls  it  down  and  does  the  cut- 
ting.     So  up  I  climbed,  and,  taking  my  end  of  the  saw  ^^^th 


IT   PROVOKES    PROFANITY  103 

a  light  heart,  we  worked  aw^ay  at  the  butt  end  of  a  log  for 
a  while,  and  finally  got  the  saw  started  on  the  chalk  line. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  both  were  green  at  this  business. 
Pretty  soon  I  was  startled  at  hearing  Joe  swear.  This  was 
unusual.     He  was  a  man  who  swore  only  on  great  occasions. 

"  What's  the  matter  ?  "  I  asked,  looking  down,  and  see- 
ing Joe's  face  distorted  and  his  eyes  blinking. 

"  You  mind  your  own  end  of  it,"  he  answered  back, 
rather  spitefully. 

I  kept  on  pulling  up  the  saw  with  a  feeling  that  I  was 
doing  my  duty,  Avhen  Joe  shouted  savagely: 

"  Say,  don't  you  know  a  chalk-line  when  you  see  it  ?  " 

"  I'm  not  doing  the  sawing,"  I  replied,  "  you  pull  the 
saw  down,  and  if  you  don't  keep  on  your  mark  I  can't  keep 
on  mine." 

"  Well,  you  just  keep  her  running  on  your  line  and  I'll 
look  out  for  the  under  one,"  he  retorted.  I  have  not 
quoted  him  exactly.  There  are  certain  figures  of  speech 
used  by  men  of  strong  natures,  when  angry,  that  look  some- 
what harsh  in  print.  I  tried  to  pull  the  saw  towards  the 
mark,  and  did  so,  but  soon  it  got  to  running  the  other  side; 
then  I  steered  it  back,  and  so  it  went,  wobbling  around  the 
line,  till  Joe,  firing  another  chain-shot  of  forceful  expres- 
sions, gave  the  saw  a  spiteful  pull.  The  wedges  slipped 
from  under  the  slippery  log  I  was  standing  on  and  it  shot 
off  the  pit,  saw  and  all,  with  a  suddenness  which  would  have 
turned  a  firecracker  green  with  envy.  I  came  down  on 
my  back  on  one  of  the  little  stumps  under  the  pit.  Joe 
stood  watching  me  for  a  moment  as  I  sat  there  rubbing  sev- 
eral of  my  shorter  ribs. 

"  You're  a  dandy,"  he  said,  as  he  walked  over  and  ex- 
tricated the  saw. 
7 


104  IT   ROUSES   WRATH 

1  felt  that  he  was  to  blame  for  giving  the  saw  such  a 
spiteful  pull,  and  my  first  impulse  was  to  get  up  and  have 
it  out  with  him.  We  had  been  good  friends  for  a  long 
time.  We  were  ''  pardners  "  in  all  that  that  word  signifies 
in  a  mining  camp.  We  had  shared  all  the  hardships  of  the 
tramp,  and  I  would  have  risked  my  life  any  day  to  save 
his,  and  I  knew  he  would  have  done  the  same  for  me.  We 
had  braved  the  Chilkoot  together  and  the  severities  of  camp 
life  in  the  snow,  and  here  we  were  at  odds  over  sawing  a  log; 
at  odds  before  we  had  sawed  five  feet  for  the  first  slab.  And 
we  were  to  saw  enough  boards  to  build  a  boat. 

"  See  here,  Joe,"  I  said  at  last.  "  If  I  am  to  kill  anyone 
over  this  business  I'd  rather  it  wouldn't  be  you.  Suppose 
I  swap  off  with  someone  in  one  of  the  other  parties,  and 
then  you  or  I  can  have  it  out  with  some  other  fellow." 

But  we  finally  made  up,  rolled  the  log  up  to  the  pit 
again  and  resumed.  We  managed  to  keep  quiet  for  a  long 
time  under  the  greatest  temptations.  No  two  green  men 
can  follow  a  chalk  line  on  their  first  log.  One  will  be  on 
one  side  of  it  on  top  and  of  course  the  saw  will  run  on  the 
other  side  on  the  bottom.  The  first  log  is  nearly  always 
spoiled  and  boards  three-quarter-inch  on  one  edge  and  one 
and  a  quarter  on  the  other  will  be  the  result.  Such  boards 
will  not  do  for  w^ater-tight  joints.  We  spoiled  our  first  log 
and  had  several  wordy  tussles,  and  lost  four  or  five  days, 
and,  I  am  afraid,  came  near  losing  our  immortal  souls.  But 
finally  we  got  down  to  work  and  towards  the  end  sawed  out 
as  nice  lumber  as  could  be  had  at  a  sawmill.  I  found  that 
the  man  on  the  under  side  had  the  worst  of  it,  after  all, 
for  in  pulling  the  saw  down  the  saw  dust  spurts  into  his 
eyes,  and  the  chalk-line  is  a  more  troublesome  thing  to 
contend  with  than  when  on  top.     It  was  more  trying  than 


SPECIFIC   DIRECTIONS  105 

the  Chilkoot  Pass.  Others  had  similar  experiences,  and 
some  of  the  boats  turned  out  in  that  camp  were  fearful  and 
wonderful  to  behold.  Some  of  them  looked  like  coffins; 
but  we  discovered  afterwards,  when  we  came  to  some  of  the 
rapids,  that  looks  did  not  count. 

After  one  of  the  days  of  hard  work,  the  one  in  which 
we  had  at  last  completed  the  sawing  of  the  logs,  and  while 
I  was  washing  the  supper  dishes  in  the  lake  through  a  hole 
in  the  ice,  I  began  to  reflect.  The  experience  of  whip- 
sawing  had  developed  elements  of  danger  which  I  had  not 
suspected  in  the  beginning,  and  I  was  now  in  the  dark  as 
to  what  new  surprise  might  be  lurking  in  the  building  of 
the  boat,  now  that  the  lumber  was  ready.  Joe  was  sitting 
in  front  of  the  tent,  enjoying  a  smoke  and  the  scenery. 

"  Do  you  know  how  to  put  this  lumber  together  ?  "  I 
asked. 

Joe  twisted  one  leg  over  the  other  with  the  air  of  a  man 
who  knew  exactly  what  was  to  be  done,  and  was  just  self- 
sacrificing  enough  to  impart  a  little  of  his  knowledge  to 
the  ignorant. 

"  It's  easy  enough,"  he  said.  "  You  see,  in  the  first 
place,  we  must  make  the  frame  of  her.  We'll  take  some 
small  poles  and  set  them  about  two  feet  apart.  The  bottom 
piece  must  be  '  half-scarfed,'  or  '  half -checked' ;  that  is, 
cut  through  at  each  end  half  way,  at  an  angle  at  which  the 
upright  pieces  are  to  stand.  Midships  the  ribs  will  be 
nearly  straight  up  and  down,  while  at  the  bow  they  will 
be  much  more  inclined.  The  bottom  and  sides  of  the  ribs 
must  be  nailed  firmly  together,  and  then  the  boat  is  ready 
to  be  built.  A  platform  of  saw-horses  and  two  planks  must 
be  made,  and  over  these  tlie  ribs  will  be  laid,  bottom  up. 
for  that  is  the  way  she  will  be  built." 


106  "WORKING   IT   somehow" 

"  I  hope  that's  not  the  way  she'll  sail,"  1  said. 

"  The  center  jjlank,  or  keel  piece,"  continued  Joe, 
witliont  noticing  sncli  a  trivial  interruption,  "  must  be  nailed 
down  to  the  ribs  first,  and  each  rib  then  put  in  its  proper 
place  from  stem  to  stern.  Each  bottom-piece  must  be  nailed 
on  in  turn  and  brought  up  close.  By  the  way.  Bill,  did  you 
bring  a  boat-clamp  ^  " 

"  Xot  that  I  know  of." 

'*'  I  knew  we'd  forget  something  we  would  need,  but 
we  can  work  it  somehow." 

I  suggested  no  objections,  having  by  this  time  learned 
that  about  the  only  way  to  do  things  in  Alaska  was  "  to  work 
it  somehow." 

"  AVhen  it  comes  to  putting  on  the  side  planks,"  con- 
tinued Joe,  "  the  ribs  will  have  to  be  shaped  a  little,  so  as 
to  bring  the  planks  up  close  to  them,  so  as  not  to  have  them 
rest  on  sharp  edges,  for,  you  see,  I  am  going  to  give  her  a 
pointed  nose  and  a  square  stern." 

"  That  seems  reasonable  and  commendable,"  I  said,  as  T 
threw  the  dish-rag  at  a  dog  that  was  sticking  his  nose  into 
one  of  the  kettles,  and  which  thereupon  picked  up  the  rag, 
ran  off  a  little  distance,  and  began  to  eat  it  up.  I  was  be- 
ginning to  learn  something  of  the  ways  of  the  country. 

"  A  stem-piece  must  be  firmly  attaqhed  to  the  keel- 
piece,"  continued  Joe,  "  and  over  this,  to  protect  the  bow 
of  the  boat,  must  be  fastened  a  strip  of  tough  wood,  about 
three  inches  thick  by  four  wide.  Then  comes  the  caulking. 
Anybody  can  do  that." 

TVe  had  cut  our  lumber  twenty-six  feet  long  and  eight 
inches  wide.  T  suggested  to  Joe  that  the  lumber  did  not 
seem  to  me  long  enough  for  a  boat  to  take  us  and  all  our 
provisions. 


CATERING   FOR  THE   CAMP  107 

But  Joe  had  been  clown  the  river  before,  and  he  qnietly 
"  allowed  ''  that  he  knew  what  sort  of  a  boat  was  needed. 
In  fact,  I  think  he  rather  resented  my  criticisms,  for  he 
made  the  projiosition  that  he  should  build  the  boat  him- 
self, and  that  I  should  look  after  the  camp,  do  the  cooking, 
and  so  forth.  I  agTced  to  the  bargain  readily,  for  I  knew 
that  these  duties  would  give  me  much  spare  time,  and  my 
hunting  instincts  had  been  aroused  by  an  occasional  glimpse 
of  game  in  the  woods.  So  Joe  kept  at  work  on  the  boat, 
and  nearly  every  day  I  shouldered  my  rifle  and  disappeared 
in  the  woods.  Grouse  and  rabbit  w^ere  plenty  about  this 
place,  and  I  brought  in  a  great  many,  so  we  would  have 
lived  quite  like  epicures  had  I  made  fewer  disastrous  ex- 
periments in  cooking.  One  day  I  ran  across  two  mountain 
sheep,  and  I  saw  a  good  many  moose  and  bear  tracks,  but 
they  were  difficult  to  trace,  for  the  snow  was  nearly  off  the 
ground  by  this  time  and  everything  was  beginning  to  look 
green. 

One  day  I  started  out  with  two  other  boys  in  the  camp, 
one  a  fellow  by  the  name  of  Cook,  from  New  York.  We 
were  simply  after  any  game  we  could  find.  Coming  to  a 
small  hill  in  the  timber,  we  separated,  I  to  go  one  side. 
Cook  the  other,  and  the  third  fellow  was  to  go  to  the  top. 
I  had  gone  on  slowly  for  perhaps  half  a  mile  when  I  heard 
Cook's  dog  barking,  and  then  Cook  began  shouting  for  us 
with  all  the  strength  of  his  lungs.  I  started  on  a  brisk  inin, 
imagining  that  he  must  have  come  across  a  dragon  by  the 
way  he  was  shouting.  The  other  fellow  came  tearing  down 
the  hill,  too,  and  when  I  reached  them  they  both  were  look- 
ing up  a  tall  spruce  and  the  dog  was  dancing  about  in  a  per- 
fect frenzy. 

Hanging  to  the  limbs  near  the  top  of  the  tree  were  four 


108  FIRING  WIDE   OF   THE   MARK 

bears,  an  old  one  and  t.lircc  cubs.  Cook  had  never  seen 
a  bear  before  outside  of  a  menagerie,  and  his  excitement 
was  such  that  he  could  hardly  tell  one  end  of  the  gun  from 
the  other.  But  according  to  the  ethics  of  the  woods  they 
were  his  bears.  His  dog  bad  treed  them,  and  it  was  bis 
privilege  to  do  the  shooting.  His  desire  was  to  kill  the 
mother  and  catch  the  cubs  alive.  He  walked  off  a  few  steps 
and  aimed,  but  I  could  see  the  muzzle  of  his  gun  wobbling 
like  a  weather-vane.  He  had  a  good,  clear  chance,  but  he 
did  not  hit  her,  nor  anything  else.  But  the  next  time  he 
fired  he  crippled  her,  and  down  she  came  with  a  tremendous 
thump  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  wdiere  she  picked  herself  up 
and  faced  the  dog,  which,  more  brave  than  discreet,  pitched 
into  her.  She  gave  him  a  savage  little  cuff,  which  sent  him 
rolling  through  the  underbrush,  and  Cook,  who  was  scarcely 
thirty  feet  off,  fired  again  and  missed  her.  The  dog  began 
to  dance  around  her  again,  and  at  Cook's  next  shot  the  dog 
ran  away  with  a  yelp.     The  bullet  had  grazed  his  neck. 

Cook  was  getting  more  excited  than  ever.  He  emptied 
his  gun,  and  though  the  poor  bear  was  too  crippled  to  keep 
her  feet  she  was  still  lively.  I  was  longing  for  one  shot  at 
her,  but  I  gave  my  gun  to  Cook,  and  after  he  had  nearly 
emptied  that  the  bear  gave  up  the  ghost. 

"  Cook,"  said  I,  "  if  it  takes  two  gunsfor  one  bear,  w^hat 
would  you  do  with  two  liears  and  one  gun  ?  " 

"  They  die  hard,  don't  they  ?  " 

"  Unless  you  hit  'em." 

Then  we  turned  our  attention  to  the  cubs.  The  other 
fellow  volunteered  to  go  up  the  tree,  and  when  he  had 
climbed  as  far  as  it  would  hold  him,  he  cut  off  the  top,  and 
dowTi  the  cubs  came,  one  of  them  getting  his  back  broke. 
AVe  rushed  in  to  catch  the  others,  and  they  scratched  and 


LIVELY   LITTLE   CUBS  109 

bit  like  demons.  The  one  I  had  canght  hold  of  was  par- 
ticularly ferocious,  and  I  carry  on  one  hand  a  scar  which 
he  gave  me.  Cook  had  a  tussle  with  his,  but  he  was  better 
at  catching  them  alive  than  shooting  them,  and,  after  skin- 
ning the  old  bear  and  appropriating  the  hams,  we  started  for 
camp,  leading  the  two  cubs,  while  the  dog  urged  them  on 
from  behind. 

On  the  way.  Cook  slipped  in  crossing  a  ravine,  dropped 
his  cord,  and  in  a  twinkling  his  cub  was  up  a  tree.  We 
had  to  cut  oif  the  top  of  that  one  also  before  we  had  him 
again.  We  found  the  hams  too  tough  to  eat.  That  night 
one  of  the  cubs  broke  his  chain  somehow  and  got  away,  so 
Cook  had  only  one  cub  and  a  bear  skin  to  show  for  all  his 
shooting. 

Our  exploit  aroused  considerable  interest  in  the  little 
camp  that  night,  but  Cook  didn't  enjoy  it,  as  much  sport 
was  made  of  his  marksmanship.  These  brown  bears  will 
sometimes  fight  very  fiercely,  and  a  man  needs  to  keep  a 
cool  head  and  to  be  a  good  shot. 

"  It  would  'a  been  all  day  with  you,"  said  one  of  the 
old-timers  who  was  coming  in  with  us,  "  if  you  had  shot  like 
that  when  meeting  the  brown  bear  I  once  did.  I  was  down 
at  Cook's  Inlet,  washing  gold  from  the  beach  sand,  last  year, 
and,  a  cold  snap  coming  on,  we  were  obliged  to  close  work. 
I  had  two  Indians  with  me,  and  as  they  were  anxious  to 
make  a  trip  up  the  bay  for  some  traps,  and  possibly  to  get 
some  bear  meat,  they  asked  me  for  my  Winchester  rifle  in 
exchange  for  a  large  single-shot.  I  complied,  like  a  fool, 
and  one  day  when  I  had  got  l)ack  to  the  cal)in  from  pros- 
pecting, and  it  was  too  early  to  turn  in,  I  went  out  and  sat 
down  not  far  from  the  beach  to  see  if  there  were  signs  of 
the  Indians  returning.      Suddenly    I    was   thrown    into    a 


110  A  STARTLING  ENCOUNTER 

lluttiT  by  eceiiig-  two  big  brown  bears  walking  leisurely 
along  in  my  direction,  not  two  hundred  yards  away.  I 
crawled  along  in  the  grass  to  the  cabin,  and  got  the  Indian's 
ritle,  putting  some  extra  cartridges  in  my  pocket.  I  now 
wished  for  my  six-shooter.  I  crept  down  towards  the  bank, 
and,  sitting  down  in  a  cutting,  tried  to  keep  myself  cool. 
Presently  the  nose  of  one  of  them  came  into  view,  a  short 
distance  from  where  I  sat,  and  he  saw  me,  and  gave  a  deep 
angry  growl.  I  had  a  good  shot  at  his  head,  and  he  fell 
in  his  tracks.  Then  I  started  down  the  beach  for  the  other. 
The  report  had  alarmed  him,  and  he  was  scampering  away. 
I  dropped  on  one  knee,  took  a  slow  aim,  and  fired.  He 
wavered  a  bit ;,  evidently,  the  ball  had  struck  home,  but  he 
turned  in  around  the  bank  before  I  could  get  a  second  shot. 
I  tried  to  track  him,  but  couldn't,  and  I  concluded  he  had 
some  hidden  shelter.  I  finally  turned  towards  the  cabin, 
and  put  the  hammer  of  the  gun  down.  I  had  hardly  gone 
fifty  yards,  however,  when,  rounding  the  edge  of  some  scrub 
bushes,  I  came  right  on  the  wounded  bear,  lying  in  the 
grass.  He  jumped  to  his  haunches,  his  mouth  streaked 
with  foam,  his  eyes  glaring  defiance,  and  his  whole  air  was 
so  ferocious,  and  I  had  been  taken  so  by  surprise,  that  I  have 
to  confess  I  turned  and  ran.  The  bear  gave  instant  chase. 
AVhen  I  had  gone  some  distance  I  triiD]3ed  and  fell,  and, 
looking  back,  expecting  to  see  the  bear  close  by,  I  saw  that 
I  had  gained  on  him.  I  recovered  my  courage,  and  thought 
that  if  I  fired  and  missed  I  would  still  have  time  to  run 
on.  But  I  waited  too  long.  When  he  came  within  a  few 
feet  he  raised  himself  on  his  haunches^  and  I  pulled  the 
trigger,  but,  to  my  horror,  it  failed  to  act.  I  had,  in  my 
excitement,  forgotten  that  I  had  put  down  the  hamnier. 
Before  I  had  time  to  recover  myself  he  hit  me  a  tennble 


PLAYING  'possum  111 

blow  on  my  left  side.  Instinctively  I  turned  my  face  down- 
ward and  played  'possum.  He  came  up,  sniffed  about  me, 
clawed  me  once  or  twice,  and  walked  off'  a  little  ways.  My 
gun  had  been  thrown  off  somewhere  in  the  grass  and  was 
out  of  reach.  I  lay  there  for  a  minute,  and  finally  the  bear 
came  back  and  clawed  me  some  more.  I  was  beginning  to 
think  he  was  going  to  turn  me  over,  when  I  heard  a  shot, 
and  the  big  bear  dropped  beside  me.  The  Indians  had 
come  in  just  in  time.  When  I  got  up  I  found  that  the  blow 
of  the  bear  had  torn  clear  through  my  clothing  and  made 
an  ugly  wound  in  my  side,  which  was  bleeding  freely.  If 
I  hadn't  played  'possum  I  should  have  been  a  dead  man." 

Every  one  appreciated  the  moral  of  this  tale.  When 
you  are  gunning  for  bear  in  Alaska,  or  anywhere  else,  do  not 
go  off  "  half-cocked."  There  was  very  little  game  of  this 
sort  about  here,  nor,  indeed,  is  there  much  anywhere  near 
the  gold  regions.  The  forest  fires  started  by  the  Indians 
drive  away  the  good  game,  and  the  pest  of  the  mosquitoes 
in  the  summer  is  trying  -to  the  bears.  In  some  parts  of 
Alaska  there  is  a  variety  of  bear  called  "  silver-tip,"  which 
is  very  ferocious,  and  does  not  wait  to  be  attacked,  but 
attacks  on  sight.  The  miners,  unless«  traveling  in  groups 
and  well  armed,  give  it  a  wide  berth.  Though  I  saw  many 
moose  tracks  while  I  was  on  my  excursions,  I  never  came 
across  one.  It  usually  requires  a  three  or  four  days'  hunt 
to  come  up  with  tliem.  There  are  two  species  of  caribou  in 
the  country;  one,  the  ordinary  kind,  much  resembling  the 
reindeer,  and  the  other  called  a  wood  caribou,  which  is  a 
much  larger  and  more  beautiful  animal.  The  ordinary 
caribou  runs  in  herds  and  is  easily  approached,  and,  when 
fired  at,  jumps  around  and  is  as  likely  to  run  towards  one 
as  from  him.     At  last,  when  several  have  been  killed,  the 


112  A  LONG  RUN 

rest  will  start  on  a  continuous  run,  and  may  not  stop  for 
twenty  miles.  The  Indians  kill  them  in  large  numbers 
sometimes,  even  when  they  have  meat  enough.  They  are 
rarely  found,  I  was  told,  in  two  successive  seasons  in  the 
same  place. 

The  mountain  sheep  which  I  found  around  here  were 
pure  white  in  color,  but  otherwise  they  resemble  vers"  much 
the  gray  ones  found  in  the  lower  latitudes.  But  they  have 
finer  horns,  more  handsomely  curved. 


CHAPTEE  VII 

A  DANGEROUS  VOYAGE  — OVERTURNING  OF  OUR  BOAT  — 
LOSS  OF  AN  §800  OUTFIT  — WE  ESCAPE  WITH  OUR 
LIVES  — HUNTING  FOR  A  CAMP  THIEF. 

We  Name  Our  Boat  the  Tar  Stater  —  More  Handsome  than  Adequate 
—  Drifting  amid  Scenes  of  Wild  Grandeur  —  Magical  Vegetation  — 
Fifty  Mile  River  —  At  the  Mouth  of  the  Canon  —  We  Conclude  to 
Pack  Around  — Several  Boats  Go  Through  — The  Trail  — An  Offer 
to  Take  the  Tar  Stater  Through  for  $5  —  1  Am  Invited  to  Ride, 
and  Accept  —  A  Quick  Repentance  —  Discarding  Gum  Boots  —  A 
Serious  Catastrophe  —  At  the  Mercy  of  the  Current — Clinging  to 
an  Overturned  Boat  —  Over  Again  —  Saved  —  A  Four-Minute  Ex- 
perience — The  Milk  is  Spilled  — Loss  of  an  $800  Outfit  — Recovering 
Our  Boat  —  Towards  White  Horse  Rapids  —  Disappearance  of  the 
Sugar  Saved  from  the  Wreck  —  I  Am  Mad — Strapping  on  My 
Gun  —  Looking  for  a  Camp  Thief  —  Sympathy  for  Us  —  A  Phase 
of  Yukon  Life. 

WHILE  I  was  acting  as  chief  cook  and  wood-cutter, 
and  was  making  excursions  for  game  in  tlie 
country,  Joe  kept  himself  busy  with  the  boat, 
and  I  helped  only  when  it  was  ready  for  the  caulking.  It 
was  finished  in  about  ten  days,  and  was  a  very  good  speci- 
men, considering  the  tools  we  had  to  work  with.  I  thought 
it  looked  small  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  our  large  outfit 
through  very  rough  water,  but  Joe  insisted  that  it  was  large 
enough,  in  spite  of  the  warnings  of  one  of  the  old-timers. 
But  Joe  had  been  over  the  river  as  well  as  the  old-timer, 
and  he  was  satisfied,     I  was  a  fair  swimmer,  and  I  knew 

(113) 


114  A    PICTURESQUE   REGION 

that  I  could  get  out  of  any  place  that  he  could,  so  1  kept  still. 
We  named  her  the  Tar  Staler,  in  honor  of  Joe's  native 
State.  Every  boat  on  tlu^  lake  had  a  name,  and  one  could 
see  all  sorts  of  clumsy-looking  boxes  carrying  the  names  of 
all  the  States  in  the  Union  and  of  prominent  men  from 
George  Washington  to  Grover  Cleveland. 

The  ice  continued  to  block  the  lake,  being  five  or  six  feet 
deep  in  places,  but  the  weather  suddenly  growing  warmer,  it 
broke  and  it  seemed  safe  for  us  to  embark.  As  we  piled  in 
our  effects  I  saw  that  the  boat  was  going  to  be  pretty  full, 
but  Joe  persisted  that  he  knew  what  we  wanted,  and  so  off 
we  started,  w^orking  our  way  through  the  cakes  of  ice,  and 
finding  no  very  open  water  till  we  reached  the  lower  end  of 
the  lake,  which  is  about  twenty  miles  long.  Running  out 
from  it  are  long  arms,  the  most  prominent  of  which  are 
Windy  Arm  and  Taku  Arm,  reaching  far  up  between  the 
terraced  and  evergreen  hills.  The  group  lies  in  a  depression 
between  the  coast  range  and  the  main  range  of  the  Rockies, 
and  altogether  it  is  a  very  picturesque  region,  abounding  in 
striking  promontories  with  a  continuous  fringe  of  wooded 
landscape  along  the  banks,  and  back  of  them  the  impressive 
mountains  seamed  mth  little  glaciers  —  gleaming  like  sil- 
ver ribbons — while,  breaking  out  here  and  there,  little  rivu- 
lets leaped  down  precipitous  heights  and  sometimes  rose  to 
the  dignity  of  torrents.  ]\[ile  after  mile  of  wildest  grandeur 
glides  by  like  a  continuous  panorama. 

At  the  mouth  of  Windy  Lake  are  three  small  islands, 
and  beyond  them  tower  mountains  of  limestone  and  marble, 
and  the  beach  abounds  in  marble  of  various  colors.  When 
we  come  to  a  little  clear  w^ater  we  find  it  so  transparent  that 
we  can  peer  to  the  bottom  of  the  lake  and  see  the  fragments 
of  marble  scattered  about.     From  the  junction  of  Taku 


POOR   STICKS  115 

Arm,  of  which  little  appears  to  be  known,  to  the  north  end 
of  the  lake,  the  distance  is  about  six  miles,  and  the  width 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  way  is  over  two  miles.  It  is  a 
line  piece  of  water,  but  apparently  very  shallow. 

At  the  lower  end  the  river  issues  from  it  and  flows  six 
miles  to  Marsh  Lake.  It  is  not  more  than  150  yards  wide, 
and  some  of  the  way  not  more  than  six  feet  deep.  On  its 
bank,  about  one  and  a  half  miles  from  the  lake,  the  Cana- 
dian police  and  customs  officers  are  stationed.  On  the  other 
side  are  the  Tagish  houses,  or  council  houses  of  the  little 
band  of  Stick  Indians  which  wander  about  the  lake 
country,  and  which,  until  recently,  were  not  allowed  by  the 
Tlingit  tribes  to  come  down  to  the  coast  to  trade.  The 
buildings,  though  the  only  ones  in  the  interior  of  Alaska 
with  any  pretensions  to  skill  in  architecture,  are  little  more 
than  rough  enclosures,  and  the  natives  are  exceedingly  poor 
specimens  of  humanity.  They  have  a  simple  way  of  dis- 
posing of  their  dead,  and  one  of  their  buryiug-places  can  be 
seen  from  the  river.  The  departed  one  is  laid  on  a  pile  of 
dried  logs  which  have  been  smeared  with  grease.  A  fire  is 
then  started,  but  the  remains  are  seldom  thoroughly  burned, 
only  charred,  and  over  this  they  hold  their  funeral  services, 
which  are  too  complex  for  the  civilized  mind.  It  is  their 
delight  to  go  to  a  funeral,  and  when  they  are  employed  in 
packing  for  the  miners  or  upper  Yukon  travelers  they  will, 
on  hearing  of  a  death,  at  once  drop  their  packs  and  not  re- 
turn till  the  funeral  is  over. 

A  little  distance  below  the  Tagish  houses  is  the  entrance 
to  Lake  Marsh,  so  named  by  Schwatka  after  Prof.  O.  C. 
Marsh  of  Yale,  but  most  of  the  miners  call  it  Mud  Lake, 
though  there  is  no  good  reason  for  such  a  name,  and  it  is 
possible  that  it  was  originally  given  to  the  lower  part 


116  LAKE   MARSH   AND   MOUNTAIN  TERRACES 

of  Tagisli  Lake,  which  is  shallow  and  in  places  somewhat 
muddy.  Lake  ]\Iarsh  is  about  twenty  miles  long  and  two 
miles  wide.  Its  shores  are  low,  flat,  and  stony,  and  the 
waters  are  shallow.  The  boat  must  be  kept  to  the  left  bank. 
When  we  went  through,  it  was  still  full  of  ice,  though  it 
was  rapidly  disappearing  under  the  sun,  which  was  now  ap- 
proaching its  long  summer  course.  Along  the  shores  the 
vegetation  was  springing  up  as  if  by  magic  under  its  con- 
tinuous Vv'armth,  while  the  rivulets  formed  by  the  melting- 
snow  and  glaciers  tumbled  over  the  rocks  of  the  hillsides, 
falling  in  glittering  cascades.  The  surrounding  region  ap- 
peal's low  to  us  after  what  we  have  passed  through,  but  it  is 
picturesque  in  any  season,  the  great  terraces  rising  to  high 
ranges  on  either  side  and  not  more  than  ten  miles  away. 
Prominent  on  the  east  stands  ]\Iichie  Mountain,  five  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  height  (so  named  from 
Professor  Michie  of  West  Point),  and  on  the  west  Mounts 
Lome  and  Lansdowne,  six  thousand  four  himdred,  and  six 
thousand  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  high,  respectively. 
Wild  fowl  are  plentiful  along  the  flats,  but  nothing  alive 
abounds  like  the  mosquitoes,  which  begin  to  come  up  in 
swarms  from  the  swamps. 

The  traveler  finds  the  names  of  all  the  prominent 
features  of  the  landscape  of  recent  origin.  ISTothing  more 
clearly  indicates  the  newness  of  the  country.  Of  course 
the  natives  have  long  had  their  names  for  the  prominent  ob- 
jects, but  they  are  seldom  adopted  by  explorers.  It  is  easier 
to  go  over  the  Chilkoot  than  to  pronounce  them  as  they  pro- 
nounce them,  for  there  is  nothing  in  the  English  language 
sounding  like  their  clicking  syllables. 

ISTear  the  foot  of  Marsh  Lake  a  stream  called  McClintock 
Kiver  enters,  and  its  valley  is  but  yet  little  known,  though  it 


ijKrf'^^^ 


-<P^'      ^ 


:-*tht! 


'pa 


AT  THE   ENTRANCE  OF  THE  CANON  119 

seems  to  be  large,  and  it  evidently  pours  in  a  quantity  of  the 
dirt  that  forms  the  shallows  of  the  lake.  The  outlet  of  the 
lake  is  called  Fifty  Mile  River,  and  it  is  here  that  the  descent 
of  the  Yukon  may  be  said  to  commence,  though  it  is  many 
miles  further  before  the  great  water  course  really  begins. 
Here  the  water  flows  northwesterly  through  the  great  valley 
with  a  current  of  three  miles  an  hour.  From  here  on  we 
had  open  water,  and  it  was  a  welcome  relief  after  working 
our  way  through  so  many  obstacles.  But  in  the  springtime 
the  banks  of  the  river  are  constantly  caving  in  and  dumping 
trees  into  the  stream,  which  is  shallow  in  many  places. 
Often  we  had  to  poke  the  nose  of  the  Tar  Stater  out  of  the 
mud,  for  in  many  places  the  current  seemed  to  ran  directly 
over  these  bai^s.  The  salmon  struggle  up  to  this  point,  and 
some  of  the  largest  are  found  here  in  season,  but  they  never 
have  the  strength  to  get  back,  and  in  the  summer  large  num- 
bers of  the  dead  and  dying  are  found  here. 

After  a  rapid  run  down  this  stream,  which  twists  and 
turns  like  a  huge  sei-pent  in  distress,  the  current  becoming 
swifter  and  swifter,  we  came  out  into  a  wide  sweep  of  the 
river  where  the  water  is  still  and  gives  little  evidence,  except 
a  dull  roar,  of  the  dangers  ahead,  till  the  two  frowning 
walls  of  the  caiion  appear.  The  river  above  the  canon 
looks  about  five  hundred  feet  wide,  and  it  is  eight  or  ten 
feet  deep.  All  this  has  to  pour  between  two  bluffs  only 
about  seventy-five  feet  apart,  and  rising  in  perpendicular 
grandeur  for  a  hundred  feet  on  either  side.  We  found 
many  boats  along  the  west  bank,  and  so  we  landed  to  take  a 
look  at  what  was  before  us. 

Climbing  to  the  top  of  the  bluff,  we  gazed  down  upon 
the  mighty  current  rashing  in  a  perfect  mass  of  milk-whito 
foam  with  a  roar  intensified  by  the  high  walls  of  rock.     The 


ViO  LIKE   CHIPS   IN   THE   CHANNEL 

water  was  boiling  through  it  at  such  terrific  speed  that  it 
ridged  u})  in  the  center,  while  along  the  perpendicular  banks 
it  whirled  in  huge  eddies  which  had  a  very  threatening  look. 
The  clouds  of  spray  gave  the  water  level  a  snowy  appear- 
ance. The  caiion  is  about  a  mile  long,  and  while  we  stood 
there  we  saw  several  boats  go  through  at  the  speed  of  a  race- 
horse. But  though  they  bobbed  about  like  chips,  they  were 
generally  managed  cleverly,  and  ran  through  safely.  By 
hard  work  they  were  kept  in  the  middle  of  the  channel,  but 
occasionally  one  would  get  to  one  side,  and  be  caught  in  tlie 
eddies,  and  whirled  around  past  all  control.  It  was  then  a 
matter  of  luck  if  they  went  through  without  a  mishap,  for 
there  was  the  greatest  danger  of  their  being  dashed  against 
the  steep  basaltic  sides  and  smashed.  But  while  we  looked 
all  passed  safely  through,  though  we  could  see  that  some 
shipped  considerable  water  in  the  big  waves. 

"  Pretty  stiff  gallop  through  there,  ain't  it?  "  remarked 
Joe  as  we  turned  to  go  down  the  bluff". 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  think,"  said  I,  "  but  I  know  too 
little  about  managing  a  boat  to  nni  her  safely  through  there. 
Besides,  Joe,  the  Tar  Stater  is  too  heavily  loaded  to  meet 
those  waves  gracefully." 

So  we  finally  agreed  to  pack  our  goods  around.  The 
portage  path  is  over  the  east  bluff,  is  about  a  mile  long,  and 
the  trail  is  comparatively  good.  This  does  not  mean  that  it 
is  easy.  It  leads  over  a  high  ridge  just  the  length  of  the 
canon,  and  then  descends  abruptly  with  a  dizzy  incline  into 
a  valley,  then,  after  continuing  for  some  distance  along  the 
cascades,  it  ascends  a  sandy  hill.  It  is  very  difiicult,  for 
many  trees  had  fallen  across  it  so  that  it  resembled  crossing 
a  lot  of  hurdles.  It  leads  much  of  the  way  through  brush 
and  wooded  patches,  where  the  mosquitoes  filled  the  air  and 


A    LAMENTABLE    BLUNDER  121 

made  life  miserable.  One  knows  how  to  fight  a  big  enemy, 
bnt  a  myriad  of  persistent  little  ones  completely  unnerve  a 
man.  On  the  first  trip  I  took  my  clothing,  bedding,  and 
gnn,  and  Joe  took  a  one-lnindrcd-ponnd  sack  of  sugar  and 
part  of  a  sack  of  beans.  This  promised  to  be  a  slow  process, 
and  on  our  way  back,  as  we  saw  another  boat  go  through 
safely  with  a  whole  outfit  in  less  time  than  it  took  us  to  fix 
a  single  pack  on  our  backs,  Joe  began  to  get  braver. 

"  I  know  the  Tar  IStatcr  will  ride  as  well  as  that  coffin 
did,"  said  he. 

Our  boat  was  certainly  handsomer  than  many  that  went 
through  without  mishap,  but  I  still  clung  to  the  idea  that  it 
would  not  be  well  to  try  her  till  she  had  been  lightened 
considerably.  When  we  reached  the  bank  again,  we  were 
approached  by  two  men  who  were  making  it  a  business  to 
take  boats  through  at  five  dollars  each.  They  wanted  to 
take  ours.  I  asked  if  she  ought  not  to  be  lightened  more, 
but  after  looking  at  her  critically  they  said  she  was  all  right, 
indeed,  was  a  pretty  trim-looking  craft.  They  had  taken 
seven  through  safely  that  day,  and  seemed  so  confident  of 
their  ability  that  we  made  the  bargain  with  them,  and,  as 
we  must  give  them  the  same,  loaded  or  empty,  we  foolishly 
decided  to  let  them  take  her  as  she  was.  It  would  take  two 
days  to  pack  our  things  around  the  canon,  and  as  several  of 
our  camp  friends  had  gone  through  we  wished  to  keep  pace 
with  them.  One  of  the  men  asked  me  if  I  would  like  to 
ride  through,  and  I  told  them  I  would  not  mind  if  I  should 
not  be  in  the  way. 

"  Jump  in,"  they  said,  while  Joe  strolled  up  to  the  bluff 
to  watch  us. 

We  pushed  off,  and  in  two  minutes  my  heart  failed  me, 
and  I  would  have  given  all  the  gold  I  ever  expected  to  get  in 


122  THE  TAR-STATER   UPSETS   IN   THE   CANON 

these  regions  had  1  staid  out.  lleturii  was  impossible.  As 
we  rounded  the  corner,  and  looked  down  through  the  canon, 
I  made  up  my  mind  that  some  fine  work  would  be  done  if  the 
Tar  ^Stater  went  through  those  waves  all  right.  I  quickly 
pulled  off  my  gum  boots,  thinking  that  if  I  should  need  to 
swim  I  would  get  along  better  without  those,  and  then  into 
the  yawning  chasm  we  shot,  drawn  by  a  force  nothing  could 
resist. 

There  is  a  popular  summer  amusement  called  "  Shooting 
the  Chutes,"  very  exciting  and  very  exhilarating,  I  am  told. 
A  boat-load  slides  down  an  incline,  and  splashes  into  the 
water.  But  just  imagine  a  boat  hurled  along  on  a  ridge  of 
water  running  a  mile  in  three  minutes,  and  twenty  times  as 
long  as  your  amusing  chutes. 

The  two  men  started  in  to  manage  the  boat  cleverly 
enough.  'Not  far  from  the  entrance  the  boat  seemed  to 
take  a  fall  of  several  feet,  while  all  the  waters  in  creation 
seemed  to  have  fallen  into  a  space  seventy-five  feet  wide. 
The  moment  we  struck  the  first  high  wave  we  shipped  some 
water,  at  the  second  we  shipped  more,  at  the  third  it  poured 
in  around  the  whole  outfit,  and  at  the  next  we  were  full,  and 
over  we  went  into  the  ice-cold  water  with  the  worst  part  of 
the  canon  before  us.  The  boat  turned  toward  the  side  I 
was  occupying,  and  I  sprang  out  so  as  to  avoid  being  covered 
up.  The  moment  I  struck  the  water  all  fear  was  gone.  It 
was  easy  swimming,  for  the  cuiTcnt  took  one  along  whether 
he  would  or  not. 

When  the  boat  came  up  she  was  about  ten  feet  from  me, 
and  it  was  not  easy  to  reach  her,  for  struggling  against  the 
current  was  another  matter.  Finally  I  caught  hold  of  the 
stern  and  climbed  up.  As  I  was  swept  by  one  of  the  other 
fellows,  I  got  hold  of  him  and  pulled  him  in  so  that  he  could 


AT   THE   MERCY   OF  ANGRY  WATERS  133 

clinib  up,  and  a  little  afterwards  the  other  man  was  able  to 
reach  us.  There  the  three  of  us  were  riding  on  the  bottom 
of  the  boat,  which  was  whirling  about  in  the  wildest  manner. 
As  straight  as  a  crow  flies  runs  the  canon  for  an  eighth  of  a 
mile.  The  roar  was  like  a  cannonade.  On  the  top  of  the 
blufi^'s  which  fled  by  us  grew  dense  forests  of  spruce  which 
shut  out  the  sun,  and  a  weird  darkness  pervaded  the  deep 
and  angry  channel.  The  boat  shot  forward  with  lightning 
speed,  leaping  like  a  racer  or  bucking  like  a  mustang,  now 
buried  out  of  sight  in  the  foam,  and  now  plunged  beneath 
a  terrific  wave.  We  clung  desperately  to  the  bottom  as 
helpless  as  flies. 

A  moment  later  we  came  to  the  worst  place  in  the  cur- 
rent, where  there  are  three  heavy  swells,  and  where  those 
who  are  steering  boats  through  incline  a  little  to  the  left  to 
avoid  the  roughest  part.  But  the  current  was  steering  us, 
and  into  the  swells  we  dived.  The  waters  swept  us  from  the 
slippery  keel  as  if  we  had  been  so  many  leaves.  Again  we 
struggled  in  the  current,  and  again  we  caught  on  to  the 
whirling  boat,  for  after  the  swells  the  water  became 
smoother,  and  in  a  twinkling  we  shot  out  of  the  canon  like 
a  rocket,  amid  the  reefs  of  boulders  and  bars  thickly 
studded  with  drifts  of  timber.  Two  men  were  waiting  at 
the  foot  of  the  bluffs  in  a  boat,  and  when  they  saw  us  come 
out  they  rowed  after  us  and  took  us  in.  Thus  we  left  the 
Tar  ^ifcr. 

I  had  looked  at  my  watch,  which  fortunately  I  carried 
in  a  rubber  sack  in  my  pocket,  when  I  got  into  the 
boat  at  the  upper  end,  and  I  looked  again  as  we  climbed  into 
the  boat  which  had  cojue  to  our  rescue,  and  saw  that  we  had 
had  a  little  over  four  minutes  of  experience.  'Some  of  the 
boats  o'o  throuch  in  three  minutes. 


lv'4  BANKRUPT   IN   FOUR  MINUTES 

Wet  and  shivcriiic:,  1  sat  down  on  a  rock  on  the  bank  and 
felt  very  blue.  Ten  minutes  before  we  had  boasted  the  best 
outfit  that  any  two  men  we  had  seen  were  bringing  in; 
everything  we  would  need  for  the  next  eighteen  months. 
It  was  worth  over  $800,  according  to  the  way  things  sold  in 
Alaska,  and  we  had  lost  very  many  things  which  could  not 
be  bought  on  the  Yukon.  All  we  had  left  was  the  sack  of 
sugar  and  a  few  beans;  nothing  to  cook  them  in.  We  had 
no  tent  to  sleep  in,  and  we  were  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  Juneau  and  five  hundred  miles  from  the  nearest  trad- 
ing post  down  the  river. 

As  I  sat  there  Joe  came  dow^i  with  a  grim  expression  on 
his  face.  He  had  stood  on  the  bluff  and  had  seen  us  go 
under.     He  knew^  now  that  we  had  been  too  heavily  loaded. 

"  The  Tar  l^tater  is  down  yonder  somewhere,"  I  said, 
with  a  despondent  gesture  towards  the  rushing  river.  I 
thought  I  would  not  be  rough  on  the  poor  fellow. 

"  Well,  the  milk  is  spilled,"  he  said,  giving  the  forlorn 
bag  of  beans  a  kick. 

"  And  this  region  doesn't  flow  with  milk  and  honey,"  I 
added. 

We  walked  along  down  the  river,  and  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  below^  we  found  the  Tar  Stater,  bottom  up,  and  her 
nose  tucked  into  a  crack  in  the  rocks  by  the  bank  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  be  held  fast.  She  was  somewhat  strained,  and 
needed  recaulking.  We  dragged  her  up  to  the  rocks,  and 
Joe  looked  at  her  mournfully.  I  could  not  withstand  the 
temptation. 

"  The  Tar  ^^tater  is  a  dandy  in  rough  water,"  I  said, 
and  I  could  see  that  Joe  was  badly  hurt.  Then  I  was  sorry, 
and  tried  to  make  amends  by  saying  that  she  would  have 
gone  through  with  flying  colors  had  we  only  taken  the  pre- 


THE  WORST   PIECE   OP  WATER  ON   THE  YUKON       125 

caution  to  carry  part  of  the  load  arovind  the  caiion.  "  She 
is  too  trim  for  heavy  work,"  I  added. 

On  the  next  day  a  boat  was  overturned  in  running 
through,  and  two  men  were  drowned.  It  was  a  sad  ending 
to  the  hard  voyage  of  two  gold-seekers,  but  all  along  the 
river  are  the  little  marks  which  tell  of  similar  cases.  There 
were  several  parties  camped  at  the  lower  end  of  the  canon, 
including  some  of  the  friends  we  had  made  at  Lake  Tagish. 
They  were  very  kind  to  us,  so  that  we  managed  very  com- 
fortably while  we  were  getting  our  boat  ready.  This  did 
not  take  much  time,  and,  having  secured  a  set  of  oars,  we 
loaded  in  all  that  remained  of  our  costly  outfit  and  pro- 
ceeded down  the  river. 

Below  the  canon  there  is  a  stretch  of  somewhat  milder 
rapids,  or  cascades,  for  nearly  three  miles,  and  then  after  a 
little  smooth  water  we  arrived  at  the  White  Horse  Rapids, 
which  are  justly  considered  more  dangerous  than  the  canon, 
but  it  is  less  on  account  of  the  swift  current  than  of  the 
formation  of  the  passage,  it  being  full  of  sunken  rocks.  It 
is,  on  the  whole,  the  worst  piece  of  water  on  the  Yukon,  and 
no  one  should  ever  attempt  to  take  their  outfit  through.  Of 
course,  we  were  no  longer  hampered  in  this  way. 

In  coming  up  to  these  rapids  one  must  land  on  the  west 
bank,  which  is  formed  of  steep  rocks,  and  the  place  is  very 
difficult  cither  for  managing  a  boat,  or  for  getting  a  burden 
up  to  the  portage.  Many  drag  their  boats  over  the  trail, 
l)ut  it  is  difficult  work  and  requires  several  men  to  pull  a 
loaded  boat  around  in  a  day.  To  get  the  boats  up  over  the 
rocks  the  miners  had  constructed  a  crude  windlass.  But 
most  of  those  on  the  way  with  us  determined  to  caiTy  their 
goods  around,  and  then  shoot  the  rapids  in  empty  boats. 

We  lined  the  Tar  >itater  down  the  side,  and  then  went 


I'^G  THEFT   A  CARDINAL   SIN 

up  to  wnti'li  ]n'()ceedings  and  to  lit'lji  one  of  tlie  other  boys 
down  with  his  boat.  We  were  gone  some  little  time,  and 
when  we  returned  to  our  boat  the  sack  of  sugar  was  missing. 
I  was  mad.  Some  villain  had  stolen  the  most  valual)le  part 
of  the  provisions  w'e  had  saved  from  the  wreck;  that  was 
about  all  we  had  left  of  that  eight-hundred-dollar  outfit. 
I  strapped  on  my  six-shooter  and  went  hunting  for  that 
sugar  with  a  vengeance.  Theft  is  one  of  the  worst  crimes 
a  man  can  commit  in  this  country,  and  it  is  not  common. 
Only  tcnderfeet  who  have  not  outgrown  the  privileges  of 
life  in  civilized  regions  will  dare  commit  it.  Generally, 
anything  can  be  left  with  perfect  safety  on  the  trails,  provid- 
ing it  is  out  of  the  reach  of  dogs.  There  are  no  storehouses, 
and  traveling  necessitates  leaAdng  articles  of  value  all  along 
the  route.  Traveling  would  be  impossible  but  for  a  rigid 
regard  for  other  people's  property.  It  is  the  unwa-itten  law 
of  the  land,  and  it  comes  as  naturally  to  the  Indians  as  to 
any  one.  Morose,  superstitious,  utterly  ungrateful,  and 
never  to  be  believed,  these  Indians  rarely  touch  a  thing  that 
belongs  to  any  one  else.  They  will  leave  their  own  belong- 
ings all  along  the  trail,  and  they  will  be  often  passed,  but 
no  one  thinks  of  touching  them.  They  know  they  will  be 
there  when  they  return. 

I  knew  it  was  some  white  man  who  had  taken  the  sugar, 
and  I  went  through  the  boats  with  fire  in  my  eye.  It  would 
have  been  easy  to  find  it  had  it  been  there,  but  it  was  not. 
On  the  other  hand,  everybody  was  in  perfect  sympathy  with 
my  attempt  to  find  the  thief,  and  if  he  had  been  found  they 
tvould  liave  given  liim,  then  and  there,  wdiat,  in  the  ])arlance 
of  the  Yukon,  is  called  a  "  jig-in-air  "  at  the  end  of  a  rope. 
It  was  lucky,  perhaps,  that  I  did  not  find  him,  for  I  was  in  a 
dangerous  mood.     I  could  have  shot  him  dead  and  no  one 


A  CROWD   OF  SYMPATHIZERS  127 

would  have  said  a  word  against  it.  I  should  have  been  criti- 
cised if  I  had  failed  to. 

Two  or  three  boats  had  gone  on  through  the  rapids,  and 
the  thief  had  evidently  taken  the  sack  just  as  he  was  putting 
off,  in  the  expectation  of  escaping  safely.  It  would  not 
have  been  so  serious  had  he  taken  something  from  a  party 
that  was  well-stocked  with  provisions,  but  taking  it  from 
us  who  had  lost  nearly  everything  but  that,  was  sufficient 
to  raise  the  indignation  of  the  whole  camp  to  the  boiling 
point.  The  fellows  offered  us  all  we  wanted.  We  suf- 
fered for  nothing.  We  could  make  ourselves  at  home  in 
any  tent  there. 

There  are  some  rare  qualities  in  the  rough  breasts  of  the 
pilgrims  of  the  Yukon,  a  consideration  for  the  condition  of 
others  which  is  not  always  found  in  a  softer  climate  and  in 
an  easier  life. 


CHAPTEE  VIII 

SOME  THRILLING  EXPERIENCES  —  DISCOVERY  OF  THE 
THIEF  — HIS  SUMMARY  PUNISHMENT— PICTURES  BY 
THE  WAY. 

Through  the  White  Horse  Rapids  in  an  Empty  Boat  —  Close  Shave  for 
tlie  Tar  Stater  —  Rough  to  Experience  but  Interesting  to  Watch  — 
Overtaking  Three  Boats —  I  find  the  Sack  of  Sugar  and  tlie  Thief 
—  Swift  Preparations  for  a  Lynching  Bee — "Say  the  Word  and  Up 
He  Goes  " —  I  Refuse — "  Nothing  Less  Than  Fifty  Lashes,  Then  " — 
I  Administer  Them  on  the  Thief's  Bare  Back  — The  Victim  Becomes 
a  Good  Citizen  —  Lake  Lebarge  and  Tagish  Indians  —  Eggs  for  a 
Change  —  In  the  Twilight  of  the  Midnight  —  Nature  in  Her  Great 
Work — Cutting  Down  Hills  and  Valleys  —  Where  Eagles  Nest  — 
Twisting  and  Turning  —  Five  Fingers  —  Rink  Rapids  —  Arrival  at 
Fort  Selkirk  —  A  Touch  of  Civilization  —  The  Route  Marked  with 
Graves  of  the  Fallen  —  Reflections  on  the  Journey. 

THERE  were,  as  I  remember,  six  boats  witb  ours  at 
the  entrance  of  Wliite  Horse  Rapids,  and  we  all 
went  throngh  in  safety,  but  it  was  a  thrilling  ex- 
perience. We  were  swept  along  over  the  raging  torrent, 
which  here  and  there  throws  white  spray  into  the  air,  a 
fact  from  which  the  rapids  take  their  name.  The  foaming 
waves  seem  to  come  from  every  direction.  Ragged  rocks 
liang  over  the  passage,  the  current  sncking  in  under  them, 
and  at  times  we  could  have  reached  up  and  touched  the 
rocks  with  our  hands  had  we  cared  to.  We  had  too  much 
to  do  for  amusement  of  that  kind.  The  rapids  extend 
straight  away  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  then  take 

(128) 


SHOOTING  WHITE   HORSE   RAPIDS       ,  129 

an  abrupt  turn  to  the  right.  It  is  after  passing  the  turn 
tliat  the  most  dangerous  part  is  encountered. 

With  a  stream  that  is  two  hundred  yards  wide,  full  of 
ugly  boulders,  coupled  with  a  fall  of  two  hundred  feet  in 
five-eighths  of  a  mile,  it  is  no  wonder  that  this  stretch  of  river 
has  become  the  terror  of  Alaskan  gold-hunters.  If  the  cur- 
rent in  the  canon  appeared  to  speed  along  with  the  swiftness 
of  an  arrow,  that  in  the  rapids  seemed  to  equal  the  flight  of 
a  swift  bird.  The  last  hundred  yards  of  the  journey  was 
particularly  dangerous.  At  the  spot  called  the  "  White 
Horse  "  the  waters  tumbled  and  tossed  in  most  fantastic 
fashion,  piling  up  the  spray  in  long  white  columns  ten  or 
twelve  feet  high.  There  is  a  sheer  fall  of  nine  feet  at  that 
point. 

''  Joe,  we're  goners  sure,"  I  shouted,  holding  on  in  terror. 
But  the  Tar  Stater  took  the  plunge  in  a  way  that  gladdened 
our  hearts.  True,  it  seemed  that  we  would  never  come 
up;  and,  when  we  did,  it  looked  as  though  we  would 
never  come  down.  Into  the  air  the  bow  went,  and  when 
the  boat  again  struck  the  water  flew  over  us  in  a  torrent. 
We  thought  that  the  next  moment  would  see  the  Tar 
Stater  sink,  but  she  did  not.  I  think  it  was  the  swiftness  of 
the  current  that  kept  her  afloat.  At  any  rate,  we  reached 
shore  safely,  but  wet  through  to  the  skin.  If  anybody 
imagines  that  shooting  the  White  Horse  Rapids  is  easy  or 
pleasant  he  is  very  much  mistaken. 

There  may  be  some  pleasure  in  boasting  of  having  shot 
these  fearful  Avaters,  but  it  is  the  height  of  folly  to  run  the 
risk.  Many  go  through  safely  in  empty  boats,  but  they  are 
at  the  mercy  of  as  angry  a  bit  of  water  as  there  is  in  Alaska, 
and  there  are  a  great  many  such  places.  The  summer  before 
we  went  through,  it  was  said  that  thirteen  persons  lost  their 


130  SUGGESTIONS   OF   GLACIAL   DAYS 

lives  there,  and  all  because  they  preferred  to  take  the  risk 
than  to  drag  the  boat  around.  It  requires  but  a  minute  or 
so  to  shoot  through,  but  days  to  get  an  outfit  around. 

Terrible  as  is  the  experience,  there  are  few  places  more 
sublime  to  the  view.  Standing  on  the  bank  in  safety,  the 
eye  is  charmed  by  the  waters  that  leap  and  foam  around 
the  highly-colored  rocks.  You  may  watch  it  for  hours 
and  turn  away  with  regret,  and  if  the  eye  wanders  off  it 
rests  on  the  somber  stretches  of  trees,  in  their  varying  colors, 
the  luxuriant  grass,  and  the  tundra,  while  standing  like 
ghostly  sentinels  over  all  are  the  snowy  peaks  in  the  dis- 
tance. Everything  is  on  a  grand  scale,  and  one  acquires  a 
faint  realization  of  what  this  planet  must  have  been  in  those 
untrimmed,  uncut,  glacial  times  when  the  earth  was  dotted 
^^'ith  raging  waters  like  these,  and  mammoths  stalked  or 
crawled  about  the  gloomy  hillsides. 

Below  the  rapids  the  river  flows  swiftly  on  for  several 
miles,  much  of  the  time  between  gravel  banks,  but  the 
water  is  smooth,  the  banks  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
apart,  and  no  obstacles  except  bars  appear;  so  we  made  good 
progress.  The  current  becomes  less  and  less  as  the  river 
turns  northward  through  the  same  wide  valley.  The  Ijluffs 
along  the  bank  are  of  white  silt,  which  gives  a  cloudy  yellow 
tint  to  the  waters.  About  thirteen  miles  down  we  come  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Tahkheena  River,  a  muddy  stream  about 
seventy-five  yards  wide,  flowing  in  from  the  west.  Its 
sources  are  near  the  Chilkat  Pass,  and  its  waters  flow  through 
a  large  body  of  water  named  Arkell  Lake,  not  far  from  the 
Dalton  trail.  Tt  is  said  to  have  been  formerly  used  by  the 
Chilkat  Indians  in  reaching  the  interior,  but  now  it  is 
seldom  used,  though  its  waters  are  said  to  be  navigable  from 
the  head  of  the  lake  down. 


"hang  the  man  who  steals  anything!"      131 

Onr  little  party  of  six  or  seven  boats  kept  close  together 
as  we  drifted  down  the  rapid  stream,  and,  towards  evening, 
as  we  were  looking  along  the  banks  for  a  good  place  to  camp, 
we  came  upon  three  boats  and  a  little  camp  back  from  the 
bank.  I  had  not  forgotten  the  sngar;  neither  had  the 
others.  We  disembarked  with  assnmed  indifference,  bnt 
I  immediately  raised  some  consternation  by  going  through 
the  boats.     In  one  of  them  I  found  a  sack  of  sugar. 

In  less  that  a  minute  that  boat  and  the  man  claiming 
it  were  covered  with  a  dozen  guns,  but  I  was  somewhat 
surprised  to  see  my  friends  put  a  rope  around  his  neck  and 
lead  him  struggling  towards  a  tree.  The  day  before,  when 
I  was  boiling  with  rage,  I  might  not  have  said  a  word.  I 
knew  how  heinous  the  crime  of  theft  was  considered  in 
Alaska.  But  now  I  was  somewhat  taken  aback  by  the 
swiftness  with  which  my  friends  proposed  to  mete  out  jus- 
tice. The  man  could  say  nothing.  He  was  badly  fright- 
ened, and  those  who  had  been  with  him  on  the  bank  made 
no  protest;  and,  if  they  had,  we  were  too  many  for  them. 

The  rope  was  thrown  over  the  limb  of  a  neighboring 
tree,  and  a  half  a  dozen  men  caught  hold  of  it  ready  to  pull. 

"  Hold  on  a  minute,  boys,"  I  said.  "  It  strikes  me  it's 
pretty  tough  to  hang  a  man  for  stealing  a  sack  of  sugar." 

''  Hang  the  man  who  steals  anything!  "  said  one  of  the 
old  timers. 

"  But  I  don't  want  to  be  too  cruel  on  the  fellow,"  I  re- 
])licd.     "  He  may  know  better  next  time." 

The  poor  fellow  was  trembling  like  a  leaf.  His  face 
was  ghastly  pale,  and  he  looked  at  me  with  beseeching  eyes. 

"  Wal,  it's  your  sugar,"  said  one  of  the  men,  "  and  all 
you've  got  to  do  is  to  say  the  word  and  up  he  goes." 

"  I  won't  do  it,"  said  I.     "  Settle  it  some  other  way." 


132  EFFICACY   OF   THE  LASH 

"  He's  got  to  be  punished  somehow,"  said  the  old-timer, 
in  a  determined  tone,  "  and,  if  yon  don't  want  to  have  him 
pulled  up,  you'll  have  to  give  him  the  lash.  We  sometimes 
does  that." 

"  All  right,"  I  said,  knowing  that  some  form  of  punish- 
ment would  certainly  have  to  be  administered. 

So  they  made  him  take  off  his  clothes  down  to  his  bare 
back,  tied  his  hands  together,  and  swung  him  up  so  that  his 
toes  barely  touched  the  ground. 

"  Kothin'  less  than  fifty  lashes,"  said  the  old-timer, 
handing  me  a  piece  of  rope.  So  I  began  to  lay  it  on,  and 
the  more  I  did  so,  the  more  T  began  to  think  he  deser\'ed  it. 
He  stood  it  remarkably  well,  but  finally  began  to  cry  w^itli 
pain,  and  I  stopped. 

"  Xothin'  less  than  fifty,"  shouted  the  old-timer. 

So  I  kept  on  till  the  number  Avas  reached.  It  was  a 
pretty  tough-looking  back  he  had  when  I  finished,  and  he 
drew^  his  shirt  on  with  the  greatest  care. 

I  came  to  know  that  man  very  well  later  on.  Strange 
as  it  may  appear,  we  grew  to  be  friends,  and  he  made  a  good 
citizen  of  Alaska.  I  never  knew  of  his  again  taking  a  thing 
belonging  to  another.  These  primitive  methods  of  punish- 
ment are  quite  effectual,  after  all.  There  would  be  fewer 
burglars  and  sneak  thieves  in  the  States  if  the  lash  were 
used  publicly,  instead  of  the  so-called  enlightened  method 
of  retiring  them  to  a  rather  agreeable  life  in  a  prison,  to 
which  they  take  their  own  evil  natures,  and  w'here  they 
exchange  lessons  in  criminality  with  their  prison  associates. 

Proceeding  a  few  miles  further,  we  arrived  at  Lake  Le- 
barge,  which  lies  nearly  north  and  south,  surrounded  by 
mountains,  those  on  the  southeast  presenting  very  abrupt 
and  castellated  forms,  with  summits  of  white  limestone.    It 


LAKE   LEBARGE  133 

is  tliirty-one  miles  long  with  an  average  breadth  of  nearly 
five  miles.  Its  southern  half  is  somewhat  wider,  but  then 
it  narrows  down  to  about  two  miles  for  a  distance  of  about 
seven  miles,  and  at  the  north  end  expands  to  about  four 
miles  again.  The  western  shore  is  indented  with  shallow 
little  bays.  Just  before  reaching  the  place  where  it  nar- 
rows there  is  a  large  island,  the  southern  end  flat,  with  gravel 
banks,  and  the  other  end  rocky.  The  rocks  are  a  bright 
red,  and  makes  a  very  pretty  picture  against  the  other  colors 
along  the  shore. 

The  lake  is  about  two  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level, 
and  we  found  it  rough  sailing  most  of  the  time,  though  the 
wind  held  in  our  direction.  Its  rough  w^ater  is  usually 
dreaded  by  miners,  who  sometimes  are  forced  to  camp  on  its 
banks  for  several  days,  till  the  wind  goes  down.  The  whole 
valley  seems  to  be  a  great  trough,  sucking  inland  the  south- 
erly winds,  which  are  apt  to  prevail  in  the  summer  montlis. 

It  is  a  favorite  spot  for  the  Tagish  Indians,  exceedingly 
filthy  and  degraded  creatures,  who  will  bargain  almost  any- 
thing they  have  for  a  little  whisky,  for  which  they  have 
acquired  a  taste  through  the  expanding  trade  of  our  Chris- 
tianized countries.  The  missionaries  came  at  the  same  time, 
but  their  efforts  have  little  effect  on  them.  To  them,  the 
greatest  importation  of  civilization  is  "  fire-water." 

We  made  good  progress  on  Lake  Lebarge,  in  spite  of  its 
roughness.  Other  names  have  been  given  this  body  of 
water,  and  the  Indians  have  one  of  their  own.  Its  common 
name  is  derived  from  one  Mike  Lebarge,  who  not  many 
years  ago  was  engaged  by  the  Western  LTnion  Telegra]ih 
Company,  exploring  the  river  and  adjacent  country  for  the 
purpose  of  connecting  Europe  and  America  by  a  telegraph 
line  overland,  except  for  the  short  distance  at  Bering  Strait. 


13-i  IN   THE   BLAZE   OF   THE    ARCTIC   SUN 

The  days  had  become  so  long  by  this  tiiiie  that  we  could 
travel  nearly  all  the  time,  stopping  only  now  and  then  for 
a  square  meal.  It  will  be  difiicult  for  anyone  who  has  not 
been  in  the  Arctic  regions  to  form  a  good  idea  of  the  pictur- 
esque features  of  a  sail  along  one  of  these  lakes  at  this  time 
of  year.  The  shore  of  the  large  lake  is  fringed  with  a  line 
of  trees,  which  stretch  back  over  the  low  hills,  but  over  the 
tops  of  these  trees  towers  the  white  line  of  mountains  miles 
away.  And  above  these  mountains  is  the  canopy  of  heaven. 
Around  this  circles  the  blazing  sun,  hour  after  hour.  One 
does  not  realize  what  a  relief  the  darkness  is  till  he  comes  to 
a  region  like  this,  at  a  time  when  there  is  no  darkness. 

On  we  drifted,  over  the  ruffled  waters,  taking  a  cold 
lunch  when  hungry,  but  without  any  adequate  realization 
of  the  time  of  day,  unless  we  looked  at  our  watches.  Finally 
the  sun  set,  and  Venus  was  the  only  star  which  became 
dimly  visible  in  the  twilight  of  midnight. 

About  half  way  down  the  lake  is  a  large  bare  rock, 
where  flocks  of  gulls  make  their  home.  Eggs  are  a  great 
luxury  in  Alaska,  and  we  laid  in  as  good  a  supply  as  we 
could  and  feasted  on  them  for  several  days.  One  can 
scarcely  appreciate  the  amount  of  pleasure  there  is  in  in- 
stituting a  little  variety  in  Alaskan  diet,  for  the  appetite 
knows  no  bounds,  and  the  staple  food  is  extremely  limited 
in  variety.  Besides,  since  the  loss  of  our  outfit  we  had  been 
obliged  to  use  our  money  to  buy  what  stores  the  others  could 
spare,  though  they  were  very  kind,  and  would  have  given 
us  food  at  any  time  had  we  asked  it.  I  kept  my  eyes  on  the 
shore  most  of  the  time,  in  the  hopes  of  seeing  game,  and 
although  I  found  enough  to  ]irovide  us  with  many  good 
meals,  I  could  not  fail  to  notice  that  it  was  becoming  more 
and  more  scarce. 


GREAT   TRIBUTARIES   OF  THE  YUKON  135 

The  Lewis  river,  as  it  flows  out  of  tlie  lake,  is  about  two 
hundred  yards  wide,  and  for  about  five  miles  preserves  this 
width,  and  a  swift  current  of  from  four  to  six  miles  an  hour. 
It  then  makes  a  sharp  turn  about  a  low  gravel  point,  and 
flows  for  a  mile  in  a  direction  opposite  to  its  general  course, 
when  again  it  sharply  resumes  its  way  nortliAvard.  Twenty- 
seven  miles  down  we  come  to  a  great  tributary  from  the 
southeast,  the  Teslin  Eiver,  as  it  is  now  called,  as  it  drains 
the  great  Teslin  Lake;  but  tlie  miners  call  it  by  its  Indian 
name,  the  Hootalinkwa.  Schwatka  called  it  the  I^ewberry, 
and  Dr.  Dawson  had  given  it  the  name  of  Teslintoo;  from 
which  it  appears  that  names  in  Alaska  are  sometimes  uncer- 
tain, and  time  alone  will  tell  which  name  will  prevail.  We 
were  told  by  the  Indians  that  gold  could  be  found  on  this 
stream,  but  few  explorations  of  it  appeared  to  have  been 
made. 

The  water  of  the  Teslin  is  of  dark  brown  color.  In- 
deed, one  cannot  fail  to  notice,  at  least  in  the  spring  of  the 
year,  the  amount  of  dirt  these  streams  are  carrying  down. 
It  is  another  feature  of  a  fact  that  strikes  a  traveler  at  every 
point,  the  immense  amount  of  work  that  Nature  is  doing 
in  these  regions.  The  country  in  the  section  we  have  re- 
cently passed  is  extremely  mountainous,  with  torrents  plung- 
ing down  througli  the  rough  valleys  from  the  eternal  snows. 
The  water  in  the  lakes  appears  to  be  remarkably  clear,  but 
as  soon  as  we  touch  any  of  the  connecting  streams  we  notice 
that  they  are  so  full  of  sediment  that  one  cannot  see  an 
jnch  below  the  surface. 

If  a  basinful  is  taken  out  and  allowed  to  stand  until  it 
clears,  a  thick  deposit  of  mud  is  found  at  the  l)ottom.  The 
current  boils  and  flows  very  rapidly,  and  as  the  boat  glided 
along  a  sound  was  heard  almost  like  that  of  frying  fat.     It 


130  nature's  forces  in  action 

was  onlv  the  constant  friction  on  the  boat  of  the  immense 
amount  of  large  particles  of  earth  whieli  the  water  was  carry- 
ing in  suspension.  This  is  noticeable  all  along  the  river,  and 
is  an  indication  of  the  wearing-down  process  that  is  con- 
stantly going  on  in  this  great  country.  It  furnishes  the 
reason  for  the  shifting  bars  which  exist  on  the  lower  Yukon, 
and  for  the  difficulties  that  prevail  at  its  mouth.  AVhen  time 
has  done  its  work,  the  shores  of  x\laska,  about  the  mouth 
of  its  great  river,  will  be  pushed  out  much  further  into  the 
Pacific. 

As  we  proceeded  down  the  ri^^'er  we  easily  saw  whence 
comes  all  this  material.  Along  the  silt  and  sand  bluffs, 
loose  material  is  constantly  falling  into  the  stream.  These 
little  landslides,  occurring  all  the  time,  except  in  the  months 
when  everything  is  frozen,  result  in  an  immense  amount  of 
dirt  being  dumped  into  the  river.  We  should  be  surprised 
if  it  w^ere  measured.  I  had  read  how  ISTature  worked 
through  countless  ages,  l»ut  I  never  realized  the  extent,  the 
capability  of  the  mighty  forces,  till  I  took  that  first  trip  down 
the  upper  Yukon  region.  But  while  we  see  Xature  work- 
ing in  an  earlier  process  than  that  to  which  we  are  accus- 
tomed, one  is  appalled  to  think  how  long  she  has  been  work- 
ing even  here.  For  all  those  mighty  canons  which  we  have 
seen,  and  through  some  of  which  we  have  barely  escaped 
with  our  lives,  have  been  worn  out  by  the  torrents.  These 
great  rocks  and  boulders,  which  fill  the  stream  and  around 
which  the  swift  current  plays,  have  been  rolled  down  from 
the  mountains  by  the  receding  glaciers. 

"\Ye  found  these  huge  boulders  a  great  obstacle  all  the 
way  down  this  part  of  the  river.  Sometimes  it  was  all  we 
both  could  do  to  handle  the  boat.  The  current  would  carrv 
us  against  them  before  we  could  stop  it,  but  we  managed 


A  WINDING  RIVER  137 

much  better  than  some  of  our  friends  with  headed  boats. 
Many  of  them  bumped  into  the  rocks,  and  one  man  lost 
nearly  half  his  outfit. 

About  thirty-three  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Teslin 
River  the  Big  Salmon  pours  into  the  Lewis.  Thirty-four 
miles  more  and  we  come  to  the  Little  Salmon,  which  is  sixty 
yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  is  shallow.  Here  the  valley 
becomes  so  broad  that  no  mountains  are  in  sight,  only  low 
hills,  at  a  distance  from  the  bank.  The  Lewis  makes  a 
turn  to  the  southwest,  and  after  running  six  miles  it  turns 
again  to  the  northwest;  then,  at  the  end  of  seven  miles,  to 
the  southwest  again,  around  a  low,  sandy  point.  Thus  we 
proceeded  for  twenty  miles  or  more,  without  gaining  more 
than  five  in  our  northern  course.  The  first  turn  is  around 
Eagle's  Nest  Eock,  wdiich  stands  up  on  the  slope  of  the 
eastern  bank,  and  in  it  is  a  huge  cavern,  where  it  is  said  gray 
eagles  rear  their  young.  It  is  composed  of  light  gray  stone 
and  rises  fully  five  hundred  feet  above  the  river. 

About  thirty  miles  further  on,  another  river,  the  jSTor- 
denskiuld,  draining  a  chain  of  lakes  far  to  the  westward, 
empties  into  the  Le^vis,  which  continues  its  course  with  a 
width  of  from  two  hundred  to  three  hundred  yards,  occa- 
sionally expanding  as  it  flows  around  little  islands.  Its 
course  is  very  crooked,  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  ISTordens- 
kiold  it  winds  under  a  hill,  and  away  from  it  several  times, 
once  for  a  distance  of  eight  miles,  and  after  making  all 
these  turns  it  has  gained  but  a  mile.  From  this  the  river 
flows  on  in  a  straight  course  to  the  Five  Finger  Rapids. 

We  did  not  stop  to  look  at  this  place,  but  ran  right  in, 

and  soon  were  bobbing  about  like  a  chip  on  the  whirling 

current.      It  is  a  cataract  of  ferocious  mien,  but  not  at  all 

dangerous,  as  a  boat  can.  be  easily  kept  away  from  the  haz- 

9 


138  FIVE-FINGER  AND   RINK   RAPIDS 

anions  points.  As  in  the  (irand  canon,  the  water  rolls  away 
from  the  sides  and  is  ridged  in  the  center.  Just  before 
entering  the  rapids  there  is  a  whirlpool,  which  is  studiously 
avoided,  though  it  is  not  dangerous.  If  a  boat  gets  caught 
in  it  she  is  liable  to  be  whirled  about  in  it  for  some  tune  be- 
fore being  released. 

The  current  continues  very  rapid  for  six  miles  below 
Five  Fingers,  so-named  because  of  the  five  large  rocks 
standing  in  mid-channel,  and  then  we  began  to  hear  the 
roar  of  the  Rink  Rapids.  They  make  a  great  deal  of  noise, 
but  are  not  dangerous,  as  the  only  obstruction  is  on  the  west 
side,  where  the  water  pours  over  the  rocks.  On  the  east 
side  the  current  is  smooth  and  the  water  deep,  and  a  boat 
can  run  through  without  the  slightest  difficulty. 

For  fifty-eight  miles,  the  distance  between  the  Five- 
Finger  Rapids  and  the  place  where  the  Pelly  River  unites 
with  the  Lewis  and  forms  the  great  Yukon,  no  streams  of 
any  importance  appear.  The  river  continues  through  a 
pleasant  landscape  for  the  whole  distance  without  the  slight- 
est indication  of  civilization.  About  a  mile  below  the  rapids 
the  stream  spreads  out,  and  many  little  islands  appear.  We 
passed  in  and  out  among  these  islands  for  about  three  miles, 
when  the  liver  contracted  to  its  usual  width,  but  islands 
and  bars  were  common  all  the  way,  and  the  current  is  about 
five  miles  an  hour. 

After  passing  a  long  bank  called  Hoochecoo  Bluff,  the 
river  again  spreads  out  into  a  very  archipelago.  For  three 
or  four  miles  it  is  nearly  a  mile  from  bank  to  bank,  but  so 
close  and  numerous  are  the  little  islands  that  it  is  often  diffi- 
cult to  tell  where  the  shores  of  the  river  are. 

At  the  confluence  of  the  Pelly  and  the  Lewis  the 
country  is  low,  with  extensive  terraced  flats,  running  back 


LAYING   IN   NEW    SUPPLIES  139 

to  rounded  liills  and  ridges.  The  Pelly  is  about  two 
hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  from  here  these  great 
w^aters  flow  swiftly  on  in  an  uninterrupted  course  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  Bering  Sea. 

The  Yukon,  below  the  junction,  averages  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  wide,  with  a  current  which  carries  everything 
swiftly  along.  It  is  dotted  by  many  little  islands,  and  we 
quickly  came  to  the  ruins  of  old  Fort  Selkirk,  a  trading  post 
which  was  established  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  in 
1848.  Indians  pillaged  and  set  fire  to  it  in  1853,  leaving 
nothing  but  the  remains  of  two  chimneys,  which  are  still 
standing.  The  place  has  been  put  to  some  later  uses,  how- 
ever, an  English  church  mission  and  an  Indian  village  being- 
established  there,  and  for  some  time  Arthur  Harper,  whom 
we  have  already  mentioned  as  a  pioneer  in  these  regions, 
maintained  a  trading  post  there. 

Here  we  were  enabled  to  use  some  of  the  money  we 
had  brought  along  in  case  of  emergency,  and  which  we  had 
saved  by  packing  our  goods,  in  the  purchase  of  new  sup- 
plies, but  it  did  not  enable  us  to  put  in  all  we  could  wish, 
for  goods  are  high  after  they  have  been  brought  up  the  long 
Yukon.  But  we  were  glad  to  have  a  tent  again,  and  some 
articles  which  are  a  prime  necessity  in  such  a  country.  We 
felt  as  if  w^e  had  again  come  in  touch  with  civilization. 

We  had  made  good  time  from  the  lakes  and  were  in  good 
health,  but  it  had  been  a  long,  hard  voyage,  and  it  always 
will  be,  in  any  time  of  the  year,  till  modern  methods  of 
communication  have  overcome  some  of  the  terrible  ob- 
stacles. All  along  the  route  wo  had  noted  the  graves  of 
those  who  have  been  lost  in  previous  years  on  this  route. 
Both  Indians  and  white  men  have  fallen  in  the  struggle 
to  press  into  the  gregt  valley  of  the  Yukon  by  the  Dyea 


140  A   SENSE  OF  GRATITUDE 

trail.  Ami  avc  licai'd  of  others,  besides  tlie  two  drowned 
in  the  canon,  who  lost  their  lives  that  same  spring  in  wdiich 
we  came  in.  One  man  was  killed  in  the  Five  Finger  rapids, 
bnt  fJoe  and  I  were  safe  at  last  on  the  waters  of  the  mighty 
river,  and  he  avIio  will  never  stop  to  think  of  an  overruling 
Providence  in  the  feverish  rush  of  life  in  the  busy  centers 
of  the  United  States,  mnst  in  these  immense  regions,  where 
he  feels  so  small,  where  he  finds  so  little  to  measnre  him- 
self by,  feel  a  sense  of  gratitnde  filling  his  whole  being  as 
lie  stands  strong  and  imhnrt  at  the  end  of  such  a  voyage. 


CHAPTER  IX 

LIFE  ON  A  YUKON  POST  — OUR  FIRST  GLIMPSE  OF  THE 
KLONDIKE  — HOW  MINERS  ADMINISTER  JUSTICE  IN 
ALASKA  — THE  PLAGUE  OF  MOSQUITOES. 

Tlie  Latest  News  —  The  Swift  Yukon  and  Its  Branches  —  The  Upper 
Ramparts — White  River  and  Its  Probable  Sources  —  Stewart  River 
and  the  Tales  of  Indians  —  Reports  of  Prospectors  —  Sixty  Mile 
Creek  —  Passing  the  Mouth  of  the  Troan-Dik  or  Klondike  —  Its 
Various  Names  and  How  They  Were  Obtained  —  A  Peep  at  the 
Moose  Pasture  — Moose  Skin  Mountain  —  Old  Fort  Reliance  —  Forty 
Mile  and  Its  Institutions  — Justice  as  Administered  at  Miners' 
Meetings  —  A  Little  German's  Trouble  —  French  Joe's  Experience 

—  A  Tailor  and  His  Bill  —  The  Canadian  Police  —  A  Plague  of 
Mosquitoes  —  How  They  Operate  and  How  Their  Bites  Work  — 
Old  Pharaoh's  Troubles  Not  a  Circumstance  —  What  Miners  Suffer 

—  No  Preventive  Sufficient  —  Tough  Miners  Sit  and  Cry  —  More 
Indian  Tales  —  Bears  and  Dogs  in  a  Frenzy  —  Frost  Comes  as  a 
Blessing. 

THERE  were  many  inquiries  at  the  trading  post  as  to 
the  news  of  the  day.  TvTot  having  been  burdened 
witli  a  heavy  outfit  after  leaving  the  canon,  we 
were  among  the  first  to  put  in  an  appearance  at  the  post  that 
spring.  In  the  winter  montlis  tlie  posts  along  the  Yukon 
are  practically  cut  off  from  civilization,  and  they  can  only 
imagine  what  is  happening  as  the  world  moves  rapidly  on. 
No  hermit  is  so  secluded.  But  naturally  we  had  little  of 
recent  date  to  tell.  Nearly  three  months  had  elapsed  since 
we  had  set  out  from  Snn  Francisco.  Joe,  who  took  more  in- 
terest in  political  affairs  than  I  did,  in  reply  to  many  (pies- 

(141) 


143  ALONG  THE   HURRYING  RIVER 

tions  narrated  to  eager  listeners  events  on  the  Pacitic  coast 
wliicli  had  then  receded  into  the  forgotten  past.  An  okl 
newspaper  which  we  had  bronght  in,  wrapped  about  some 
of  my  clothing,  was  read  with  all  tlie  eagerness  with  which 
a  starving  man  would  eat.  This  serves  to  sho\v  how  remote 
Alaska  is  from  the  world  most  of  the  year. 

We  were  still  about  three  hundred  and  eighty  miles  from 
Circle  City,  to  which  we  were  destined,  and  which  was  then 
the  center  of  the  mining  interest  in  this  great  territory.  So 
with  our  new  supplies  and  a  few  tools  needed  by  t!ie  pros- 
pector, we  resumed  our  way.  Below  the  fort  and  for  a  dis- 
tance of  ninety-six  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  White  River, 
the  Yukon  maintains  its  width  of  from  four  to  six  hundred 
yards,  and  its  course  is  a  little  north  of  west.  The  current 
continues  swift,  over  four  miles  an  liour  on  the  surface,  and 
so  numerous  are  the  little  islands  that  there  is  no  part  of  the 
river  where  one  or  more  cannot  be  seen.  Gravel  bars 
abound,  but  cause  no  trouble.  It  is  a  broad,  majestic, 
hurrying  river,  displaying  some  of  the  grandest  views  eyes 
ever  beheld. 

We  drifted  on  with  but  few  stops,  and  those  were  brief. 
It  made  no  difference  whether  it  was  night  or  day  —  it  was 
nearly  all  daylight  then.  The  circling  sun  would  dip  be- 
hind the  hills  or  the  bluffs  along  the  river  for  a  little  while, 
and  a  sort  of  twilight  would  fall  on  the  majestic  scene,  the 
heat  would  suddenly  disappear,  and  for  a  couple  of  hours 
the  frost  in  the  ground  would  fill  the  air  with  a  cold  moist- 
ure. Then  the  sun  would  come  up  again,  and  for  twenty 
hours  pour  its  blazing  heat  on  the  broad  valley.  Under  its 
influence  the  grass  rises  to  phenomenal  height,  and  so  bright 
a  green  is  seldom  seen.  All  day  long,  and  night,  too,  birds 
W'ith  unfamiliar  voices  were  singing  about  us,  seeming  to 


A  LONG  AND  HARD  JOURNEY  OVER  THE  SKAGWAY  TRAH^. 

Entrance  to  the  canon.     Two  Klondikers  with  heavy  packs  making  their 
way  on  foot  through  the  deep  snow. 


PICTURESQUE   PLACES  145 

mock  the  trials  of  mankind  and  tlieir  greedy  rush  for  gold, 
and  occasionally  we  caught  sight  of  a  bit  of  game  —  a 
moose  too  far  away  for  us  to  reach,  or  a  duck,  too  hard  a  shot 
for  me  with  a  rifle.  Had  we  possessed  the  proper  weapon 
w^e  could  have  feasted  on  ducks  and  geese.  They  are  very 
plentiful,  and  every  Yukon  man  should  have  a  shotgun. 
We  stopped  upon  the  banks  but  little,  never  except  for  a 
substantial  meal,  for  the  mosquitoes  make  camp  life  an  ex- 
cruciating experience.  Joe  slept  while  I  managed  the 
boat;  and  then  he  took  his  turn  at  the  oar,  and  I  would  catch 
a  nap. 

Upper  Ramparts  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  places 
in  Alaska.  Steep  basaltic  bluffs  tower  like  monster  cathe- 
drals along  the  banks.  The  lights  and  shadows  work  unique 
effects  among  their  rocks,  standing  out  like  minarets  from 
the  walls. 

About  thirty  miles  below  the  fort  a  little  stream  called 
Selwyn  River  enters  the  Yukon  from  the  south.  Good  tim- 
ber abounds  in  its  valley,  and  we  saw  men  getting  out  the 
logs  ready  to  float  down  the  river  to  places  where  they  are 
needed  for  houses.  White  River  comes  in  from  the  west 
about  seventy  miles  further  on,  and  after  the  Yukon  has  re- 
sumed its  northerly  course.  It  is  a  powerful  river,  about 
two  hundred  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  it  plunges  down 
loaded  with  silt  over  ever-shifting  bars,  the  main  channel 
being  not  more  than  a  hundred  yards  in  width.  The  current 
is  not  less  than  ten  miles  an  hour,  and  its  name  is  derived 
from  the  milky  ajDpearance  of  its  waters.  With  numerous 
other  creeks  so  much  easier  to  ascend,  this  river  has  been 
neglected  by  prospectors,  and  its  source  is  somewhat  prob- 
lematical, though  the  Indians  say  that  it  rises  far  inland 
near  an  active  volcano.     For  aught  that  may  be  known,  the 


146  GOLD   AND   GAME 

richest  gold  fields  in  the  world  may  lie  near  the  sources  of 
this  great  Avatercourse  so  turbid  and  rapid  at  its  mouth. 

Between  AVhite  and  Stewart  rivers,  ten  miles,  the 
Yukon  spreads  out  to  a  mile  in  width,  and  is  a  maze  of 
islands  and  bars  between  wonderful  banks. 

The  Stewart  River  enters  from  the  east  through  the 
middle  of  a  wide  valley;  the  current  is  slow  and  the  water 
dark  colored.  While  camping  here  for  a  brief  space  we 
encountered  a  small  party  of  miners  who  had  been  pros- 
pecting on  the  river  above.  They  had  found  considerable 
gold  on  the  bars,  and  were  returning  for  provisions,  but 
they  told  us  that  it  would  depend  upon  how  other  points  on 
the  river  turned  out  whether  they  returned  to  the  Stewart. 
They  had  done  most  of  their  digging  in  the  bars  along  the 
river,  and  had  not  explored  the  creeks  running  into  it. 

The  current  above,  they  told  us,  is  swift,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary to  pole  boats  up  the  stream.  The  banks  for  some  dis- 
tance from  the  mouth  are  steep  and  uninviting.  Further 
up  they  found  bars  and  the  river  bottom  covered  with  grass. 
They  had  been  compelled  to  go  into  camp  about  forty  miles 
up,  because  of  high  w^ater,  and,  while  there,  had  found 
plenty  of  game,  including  moose  and  bear.  The  fish  w^ere 
also  good.  They  said  that  on  some  of  the  upper  bars  they 
had  found  gold  which  yielded  over  twenty  dollars  per  day, 
but  they  found  the  digging  was  irregular  because  of  the 
high  water  at  times.  From  what  information  they  had 
acquired  from  the  Indians,  who  declined  to  ascend  the  river, 
there  exists  a  very  savage  tribe  of  Indians,  holding  the  coun- 
try around  its  sources.  They  are  at  war  with  the  other 
Indians  lower  down,  occupying  a  stronghold  in  a  moun- 
tainous wilderness,  and  they  will  not  permit  any  white  man 
or  other  Indian  to  enter  their  territory.     They  make  their 


IN  THE   MINING  REGION  147 

living"  by  Imnting,  occasionally  bringing  their  fnrs  down  to 
the  trading  points,  getting  gnns  and  such  ether  things  as 
they  desire  in  return.  These  Indians,  it  is  said,  are  met 
about  two  hundred  miles  up  the  river.  But  there  are  few 
things  more  unreliable  than  Indian  stories.  White  pros- 
pectors have  not  met  these  Indians  in  their  explorations. 
At  some  time  they  may  have  existed  there,  thus  giving 
ground  for  the  tradition.  The  prospectors  had  no  informa- 
tion which  could  tempt  us  to  turn  aside,  and  we  concluded 
to  waste  no  time  on  the  river. 

About  twenty-three  miles  below  the  Stewart  a  small 
stream  enters  from  the  west,  called  Sixty-Mile  Creek.  We 
are  now  in  the  region  of  the  miners.  This  stream  has  been 
prospected  all  the  way  to  its  sources,  and  gold  had  been 
found  nearly  everywhere,  but  not  in  rich  quantities  except 
on  two  creeks.  A  few  miners  were  working  there.  For 
some  time  after  the  discovery  of  Miller  and  Glacier  creeks 
the  diggings  there  were  considered  the  richest  in  the  region, 
but  the  more  recent  discoveries  on  Birch  Creek  had  drawn 
the  miners  in  that  direction,  and  the  year  before  a  rich  spot 
called  Mosquito  Creek,  an  appropriate  name  for  any  creek 
in  the  river,  had  been  discovered  running  into  Forty  Mile 
River.  At  the  time  we  came  into  the  regions  this  creek 
was  making  the  sensation. 

So  we  pushed  on,  passing  Indian  River,  a  stream 
destined  to  gain  great  notoriety,  but  then  considered  of  no 
particular  account.  A  little  further  on  we  passed  another 
stream  about  forty  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  which  emptied 
into  the  Yukon  from  the  east.  The  Indians  called  it  Troan- 
T)ik,  or  Thron-Diuck.  As  to  how  the  Indian  appellation  of 
this  stream  should  be  spelled,  and  what  it  means,  there  is 
considerable  uncertainty,  which,  however,  is  not  strange 


148  EVOLUTION   OF   THE   WORD    "•KLONDIKE" 

considering"  the  difficnlty  of  putting  into  Englisli  characters 
anything  which  an  Indian  pronounces,  and  the  further  dif- 
ficulty of  securing  from  an  Indian  of  these  parts  an  intel- 
ligible idea  of  what  he  means  by  anything  he  says  in  his  own 
language.  According  to  some,  the  name  of  this  river  means 
''  water  full  of  fish."  According  to  others,  it  takes  its  name 
from  the  fact  that,  the  stream  being  swift,  the  Indians  have 
to  set  their  salmon  traps  or  nets  by  driving  in  stakes  with  a 
hammer,  and  so  they  gave  it  the  name  Troan-Dik  or  Ham- 
mer Creek.  The  sure  thing  about  it  is  that  it  seems  to  have 
something  to  do  with  fish.  The  miners,  probably  in  an 
effort  to  cast  into  phonetic  English  the  Indian  pronuncia- 
tion, had  in  1896  fallen  in  the  habit  of  calling  it  Cluned^'ke. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  when  one  of  the  natives  of 
this  region  pronounces  one  of  his  words  he  does  it  as  if  he 
were  doing  his  best  to  strangle  himself  with  it,  and  the  effect 
is  as  if  he  just  barely  escaped  doing  it. 

In  1883,  when  Schwatka  rafted  down  the  Yukon,  he 
camped  at  the  mouth  of  this  stream,  and  according  to  his  re- 
ports he  found  that  the  traders  called  it  Deer  Creek  "  from 
the  large  number  of  caribou  or  woodland  reindeer  seen  in 
its  valley  at  certain  times  of  their  migrations."  The  valley 
looked  as  though  it  might  abound  in  moose  and  caribou,  and 
for  years  it  had  been  a  fa^'orite  fishing  ground  for  the  In- 
dians Avho  were  waiting  for  the  salmon  to  run  up. 

AVe  floated  by  in  blissful  ignorance  of  what  lay  under 
the  tundra  of  its  creeks,  and  no  one  would  have  suspected 
that  in  a  few  weeks  there  would  be  a  lively  city  on 
the  swamp  near  its  mouth,  and  that  a  pushing  civilization 
would  have  transformed  the  Indian's  Troan-Dik  and  the 
miner's  Clunedyke  into  Klondike,  a  word  which  philologic- 
ally  means  absolutely  nothing  except  that  your  practical 


AN  INVITING   STREAM  149 

civilization  does  about  as  it  pleases  in  naming  things,  and 
that  when  it  does  it  that  ends  the  matter. 

The  Indian  name  for  one  of  the  landmarks  near  the 
month  of  the  stream  is,  when  translated  to  the  best  of  hnman 
ability,  Moose-Skin  Monntain,  a  name  that  is  likely  to  ad- 
here to  it,  nnless  at  some  time  some  one  finds  something 
there  except  the  monntain,  and  practical  civilization  takes 
liberties  with  the  native  appellation. 

I  conld  not  fail  to  notice  as  we  floated  past  this  region, 
the  river  being  qnite  narrow  here,  its  inviting  aspect  for 
hnnters  and  fishermen,  and  but  for  the  fact  that  we  were 
now  anxious  to  arrive  at  the  center  of  the  gold  diggings  we 
might  have  stopped  a  day  to  see  what  we  could  bag  in  this 
moose  pasture. 

Proceeding  on,  we  passed  old  Fort  Reliance,  an  old 
private  trading  post  of  no  great  present  importance,  the 
stream  flowing  in  from  the  east  called  by  Schwatka  the 
Chandindu,  and  a  little  over  thirty  miles  further  we  come 
to  Forty  Mile,  which  for  years  had  been  considered  one  of 
the  richest  sections  in  the  territory,  and  had  been  one  of  the 
chief  attractions  to  those  who  had  braved  the  difficnlt  trails 
from  the  coast. 

Joe  and  I  landed  here,  and  for  the  first  time  entered  into 
the  vortex  of  white  civilization  on  the  Yukon.  Forty  Mile 
contained  nearly  a  hundred  log  buildings,  and  such  are  the 
most  palatial  residences  in  Alaska.  Some  of  them  had  cost 
over  ten  thousand  dollars,  for  even  logs  are  dear  here, 
though  they  are  so  abundant.  The  town  is  situated  on  the 
south  side  of  Forty  Mile  River  at  its  junction  with  the 
Yukon,  and  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  has  a  station 
here  which  was  located  by  McQuestcn  shortly  after  gold 
had  been  found  on  the  creeks  above.     It  is  in  the  British 


150  FAMOUS   FORTY   MILE 

Territory,  and  a  few  of  the  mounted  police  were  at  hand, 
bnt  the  diggings  are  mostly  located  across  the  border  line, 
which  crosses  the  stream  about  twelve  miles  from  its  mouth. 
The  best  mines  are  sixty  miles  up  stream,  but  Forty  ]\Iile  is 
the  headquarters.  At  this  time  it  was  the  second  place  in 
size  on  the  river,  contained  a  sawmill,  several  blacksmith 
shops,  restaurants,  billiard  halls,  saloons  and  dance  halls,  of 
course,  and  a  few  bakeries.  It  also  contained  an  opera 
house,  and  here,  a  little  later,  we  found  some  of  the  women 
who  had  come  over  the  pass  with  us  singing  the  same  old 
songs  we  had  heard  at  San  Trancisco,  and  had  heard  once 
in  awhile  during  the  journey.  They  had  had  a  hard  time 
of  it,  but  they  received  "  big  money  "  for  the  display  of 
their  talents.  It  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  mining- 
regions  that  much  of  the  gold  goes  to  those  who  do  not 
dig  it. 

At  the  time  we  were  at  Forty  Mile,  miners'  meetings 
as  a  means  of  settling  disputes  were  being  brought  into  dis- 
repute. For  a  long  time  they  had  answered  very  well,  as 
the  miners  in  the  district  were  few  and  acquainted  with  each 
other.  But  as  the  influx  of  all  elements  began  with  the  re- 
ports of  discoveries  on  Forty  Mile  River,  and  saloons  in- 
creased in  number,  disputes  became  more  frequent,  and 
miners'  meetings  became  a  mere  burlesque.  We  heard  of 
several  cases  which  had  been  thus  tried.  In  one  instance,  a 
poor  little  German  was  passing  quietly  along  the  street  one 
day,  and  a  big  ruffian,  who  rather  prided  himself  on  his 
capabilities  as  a  bully,  drew  out  and  stnick  the  little  man  a 
blow  that  paralyzed  him.  He  was  powerless  to  help  him- 
self; he  could  not  match  his  strength  against  that  of  his  as- 
sailant; and  so  he  consulted  a  German  friend  of  his  as  to 
what  he  should  do  in  the  matter.     The  friend  suggested  a 


A  CURIOUS  VERDICT  151 

miners'  meeting-,  wliicli  was  called  at  once.  Now  what  do 
you  think  the  miners'  meeting  did.  They  fined  the  plaintiff 
twenty  dollars  for  calling  the  meeting,  and  the  fine  was  ex- 
pended for  drinks  on  the  spot,  the  meeting  being  held  in  the 
saloon,  and  the  chairman  being  the  proprietor  of  the  place. 

Another  instance  reported  was  that  of  four  miners  who 
were  partners  in  four  claims.  These  did  not  return  more 
than  expenses,  and  they  decided  to  sell.  One  of  the  part- 
ners was  going  to  Forty  Mile  for  something  or  other,  and  the 
others  instructed  him,  if  he  could,  to  sell  out  for  the  whole 
lot.  He  asked  them  what  was  the  lowest  they  would  be 
willing  to  take  for  their  interests,  so  that  he  might  have 
something  to  go  on.  After  consultation  they  decided  that 
five  hundred  dollars  was  the  least  they  would  be  willing  to 
take,  but  at  the  same  time  instructed  him  to  get  all  that  he 
could.  At  Forty  Mile  he  sold  the  four  claims  for  two  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  dollars  —  seven  hundred  dollars  apiece. 
He  handed  the  three  partners  five  hundred  dollars  each,  and 
put  the  one  thousand  three  hundred  in  his  own  pocket. 
Soon  after  they  discovered  this  fact,  and  called  a  miners' 
meeting  to  make  him  divide  even.  The  meeting  by  reso- 
lutions decided  that: 

"  As  long  as  they  got  their  five  hundred  dollars  apiece, 
it  was  none  of  their  business  what  he  got." 

Again,  a  miner,  commonly  known  as  French  Joe,  a 
French  Canadian,  was  going  down  "  the  creek,"  as  it  is 
termed,  to  Forty  Mile.  While  passing  the  cabin  of  a  cer- 
tain miner  he  was  asked  where  he  was  going. 

"  To  Forty  Mile,"  he  said. 

"  Well,  you're  going  by  Dick  Rol)inson's;  will  you  take 
down  those  two  ounces  and  give  it  to  him?  " 

"  Oui — ccrtainment,  M'sr." 


152  FRENCH   joe's   EXPERIENCE 

The  two  ounces  were  weighed  out  and  handed  over  to 
Joe,  who  carried  them  down  and  faithfully  presented  them 
to  Kobinson  as  directed,  w^ith  the  explanation  that  they  had 
been  received  from  the  miner. 

"  But,"  said  Robinson,  "  he  owes  me  three  ounces." 

Joe  was  pained  and  surprised  and  a  little  indignant  at 
his  reception, 

"  I  don't  know  for  dat.  He  gif  me  two  bounce — der 
she  was.     Dat's  all  I  know  for." 

"  But  he  owes  me  three,"  said  the  persistent  Robinson. 

"  Yell,  dat  may  be.  She  maybe  he  owe  you  tousan'. 
He  giv  me  two  bounce  —  dere  she  is.  You  got  two 
bounce? " 

"  Yes;  there's  two  ounces  here." 

"  Yell,  dat's  all  he  gif  me." 

"  But  I  want  my  other  ounce." 

"  Yell,  sacr-r-r-e  "  —  the  Frenchman  was  becoming 
warm  —  "  perhaps  next  time  you  see  him  you  ask  him  about 
her.     I  give  you  two  bounce  —  dat's  all  I  got." 

Robinson  called  a  miners'  meeting  to  decide  whether  or 
not  Joe  should  pay  him  the  extra  ounce.  Eighty-two 
miners  attended,  and  after  much  discussion,  in  which  Rob- 
inson admitted  having  received  the  two  ounces  from  Joe, 
six  voted  that  the  Frenchman  should  pay  the  extra  ounce 
and  five  that  he  should  not.  The  rest,  as  Joe  explained, 
"  didn't  giv  dam  no  how  —  one  vay  or  de  other." 

So  the  Frenchman  was  compelled  to  pay  the  extra  ounce, 
with  the  costs  of  the  meeting  added,  amounting  to  nearly 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Joe  remarked  afterward,  in. 
telling  the  tale  of  his  misfortune : 

"  By  Gar,  dat  satisfy  me  with  miners'  meeting.  I 
don't  vant  any  more  dem  things." 


DEFYING  THE   COURT  153 

What  first  brought  the  miners'  meetings  into  disrepute 
was  the  result  of  one  held  at  Forty  Mile  in  June,  1896,  or 
shortly  before  our  arrival.  A  tailor  there  had  demanded 
payment  of  a  bill  of  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents  from  a  bar- 
ber. The  barber  put  in  a  counter  bill  which  fully  paid  the 
tailor's  bill.  The  tailor  called  a  meeting  to  decide  between 
them. 

The  meeting  gave  the  tailor  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents, 
and  one  of  its  members  then  gravely  proposed  that  he  be 
fined  twenty  dollars  for  calling  the  meeting.  This  was  just 
about  to  pass  unanimously,  as  things  sometimes  do  at  miners' 
meetings,  it  being  sufficient  only  to  have  a  mover  and  a 
seconder,  when  another  member  stood  up  and  protested 
against  this  action,  urging  that  if  they  fined  a  man  for  call- 
ing a  meeting  the  poor  man  would  have  no  way  at  all  to 
get  justice.  They  had  awarded  the  man  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents,  and  the  imposition  of  a  fine  would  be  manifestly 
unfair.     The  meeting  saw  the  force  of  this  and  let  him  go. 

The  barber  then  rose,  and  slowly,  deliberately,  and  with 
a  picturesque  profusion  of  profanity  and  an  eloquence  of 
metaphor  that  did  credit  to  his  originality,  requested  all 
present  to  go  —  not  to  any  more  frigid  clime.  He  would 
go  down  the  river  on  the  underside  of  a  log,  he  observed,  if 
the  worst  came  to  the  worst  —  but  as  for  that  dollar  and  a 
half,  they  could — !  ! 

A  committee  was  forthwith  appointed  to  try  and  collect 
the  amount  adjudged  due.  They  could,  however,  find  no 
one  who  owed  the  barber  anything,  or,  if  he  did,  was  will- 
ing to  pay  it  over  to  them.  It  was  well  known  that  if  they 
tried  to  enforce  payment  from  the  barber  he  would  apply  to 
the  mounted  police  for  protection,  and  of  course  their  action 
in  so  doing  would  be  punishable.     The  absurdity  of  the 


154  DEFYING   THE   COURT 

sitiuition  dawned  on  the  parties  to  the  affair,  and  miners' 
meetings  fell  below  par. 

This  and  similar  cases  brought  the  miners'  meetings 
into  sncli  contempt  that  all  in  the  country  were  quite  ready 
to  join  in  their  obsequies  when  the  Canadian  police  insti- 
tuted a  diflferent  condition  of  things.  All  seem  to  be 
heartily  glad  that  they  had  been  abolished.  They 
seem  to  be  particularly  pleased  with  the  fact  that  a  man's 
just  rights  do  not  depend  upon  his  personal  popularity,  that 
his  title  to  his  claim  is  not  based  on  the  number  of  times  he 
treats  when  near  the  saloon,  nor  yet  upon  the  quantity  of 
whisky  he  drinks,  or  any  kindred  merit,  but  simply  and 
purely  on  his  just  and  legal  rights,  whether  or  not  all  in  the 
country  are  his  friends  or  all  his  enemies.  In  the  first  stages 
of  settlement,  however,  these  miners'  meetings  and  the  laws 
they  made  answered  the  purpose  better  than  anything  else 
could.  There  is  a  sense  of  justice  among  the  miners  which 
is  not  always  found  in  society,  and  it  would  not  become  per- 
verted except  for  the  introduction  of  elements  depending 
less  on  their  hands  and  muscles  than  on  their  wits. 

The  general  coui-se  of  Forty  Mile  Kiver  as  far  as  the 
boundary  line,  a  distance  of  twenty-three  miles,  is  south- 
west, but  after  this  it  runs  nearly  south.  The  miners  work 
their  way  up  in  small  boats.  It  is  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  yards  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  all  the  way  the 
current  is  strong  with  many  rapids.  Eight  miles  from  its 
mouth  is  a  placed  called  the  Caiion,  though  it  is  simply  a 
crooked  contraction  of  the  river  with  high  and  steep  banks 
for  a  distance  of  about  a  mile.  At  the  north  side  there  is 
plenty  of  room  for  a  trail  along  the  beach. 

The  rumors  of  the  rich  finds  at  IMosquito  Creek  had 
been  one  of  the  incentives  in  our  coming  to  Alaska.     Joe, 


THORNS   IN   THE   FLESH  155 

who  had  followed  reports  closely,  had  never  ceased  to  urge 
upon  me  the  possibilities  of  this  creek  whenever  I  had  shown 
an  inclination  to  turn  aside  and  travel  into  regions  un- 
known. Here  was  where  he  expected  to  make  his  fortune, 
but  Avhen  we  had  worked  our  way  to  the  object  of  all  our 
exertions  we  found  that  gold  was  being  washed  out  plenti- 
fully, but  the  creek  was  completely  occupied,  and,  of  course, 
we  had  no  money  to  go  into  a  speculative  business.  The 
law  allows  a  claim  of  one  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  measured  in  the  general  direction  of  the  stream, 
and  the  few  avIio  had  been  in  the  country  at  the  time  of  the 
strike  had  taken  all  the  claims,  although  the  rule  up  to  that 
time  had  been  claims  of  five  hundred  feet  only.  Such  was 
the  condition  of  things  at  Mosquito  Creek. 

But  we  found  mosquitoes.  They  are  no  more  abundant 
there  than  anywhere  else,  so  far  as  I  have  seen  in  Alaska  in 
the  summer  months,  but  they  had  a  better  chance  to  prey 
upon  us.  We  had  had  our  trials  with  this  pest  on  our  voy- 
age down  ever  since  the  ice  had  melted,  but  it  was  not  till 
we  were  camped  around  the  headwaters  of  Forty  Mile  River 
that  we  began  to  realize  their  capabilities  as  thorns  in  the 
flesh  and  destroyers  of  the  soul.  For  he  is  a  pretty  good 
missionary  in  Alaska  wdio  will  not  swear  once  in  a  while  in 
the  mosquito  season. 

These  insects,  which  are  apparently  no  larger  than  the 
ordinary  mosquito  of  low^er  latitudes,  are  several  times  as 
venomous.  They  begin  operations  about  the  first  of  June, 
and  close  them  about  the  first  of  September,  and  during  that 
brief  season  they  make  up  for  any  lost  time  that  the  latitude 
imposes.  They  seem  to  tlirive  on  any  ordinary  smoke. 
They  revel  in  fire  unless  it  consumes  a  whole  forest.  One 
may  hurl  a  blanket  through  a  cloud  of  them,  but  ranks  are 
10 


lo6  THE   MADDENING  MOSQUITO 

closed  up  and  the  cloud  is  again  intact  before  the  blanket  lias 
hit  the  ground.  .Vll  day  long,  and  of  course  in  July  that 
means  for  about  twenty-four  hours,  they  are  on  the  alert, 
always  after  anything  that  has  blood  in  its  veins.  Any  one 
who  reads  the  Bible  in  this  region  in  the  summer  must  won- 
der at  the  weak  nature  of  Pharaoh.  There  surely  never 
could  be  a  plague  like  this. 

They  rise  in  vast  clouds  from  the  peculiar  moss  along 
the  banks  and  creeks,  and  their  rapaciousness  knows  no 
limits.  They  have  been  known  to  drive  men  to  suicide, 
and  the  sting  of  a  f ew^  dozen  will  make  a  man  miserable  for 
days.  I  have  seen  tough  miners  sit  and  cry,  and  it  is  a  com- 
mon sight  to  see  them  so  worn  out  and  nervous  that  they 
can  not  sleep  even  after  they  are  protected  from  them.  My 
wrists  have  sometimes  been  so  bitten  that  for  days  they  were 
too  lame  for  me  to  work  to  any  advantage. 

It  is  absolutely  essential  to  wear  cheese  cloth  or  mosquito 
netting  of  some  kind  for  a  protection,  but  in  the  summer 
time,  when  there  is  scarcely  a  breath  stiiTing,  this  of  itself 
becomes  almost  unbearable.  They  pile  themselves  upon 
any  netting  worn  over  the  face  so  thickly  that  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  breathe,  and  they  will  make  so  much  noise  that  it  is 
sometimes  difficult  to  convei*se  unless  one  almost  shouts  in 
his  neighbor's  ear. 

The  tent  door  must  be  covered  with  netting,  there  must 
be  netting  over  the  bed,  netting  must  be  worn  while  at 
work,  gloves  must  be  worn  on  the  hands,  everything  must 
be  done  to  prevent  these  insects  from  devouring  the  body 
and  wearing  out  the  nerves.  Like  everything  else  in 
Alaska,  the  mosquitoes  are  on  a  large  scale.  I  do  not  wish 
to  make  it  out  any  worse  than  it  is,  for  the  reality  is  bad 
enough.     Any  one  who  goes  to  Alaska  will  at  times  be  im- 


SUBDUED  BY   FROST  157 

pressed  with  the  paucity-  of  the  English  language  as  a 
medium  of  expression.  I  wish  those  scientists  who  write 
so  learnedly  upon  the  benefit  of  the  mosquito  as  an  antidote 
for  malaria  would  take  a  trip  to  the  Yukon  regions  in  sum- 
mer.    They  have  something  to  learn. 

The  Indians  say  —  and  it  is  more  readily  believed  than 
most  Indian  stories  —  that  they  have  known  bears  and  dogs 
to  rush  madly  off  cliifs  when  frenzied  with  a  swarm  of 
mosquitoes,  and  that  native  horses  will  break  harness  and 
run  madly  away,  and  that  dead  bears  have  been  found  in  the 
woods  swollen  by  the  bites  of  these  insects.  But  one  thing 
is  certain,  the  miners  in  their  work  along  the  creek  suffer 
agonies  from  them,  no  matter  how  well  protected.  A 
strong  wind  is  always  welcome,  and  a  frost  seems  like  the 
soft,  comforting  touch  of  Nature,  although  it  may  be  the 
forerunner  of  a  long  winter  and  a  season  of  deprivation. 


CHAPTER   X 

ARRIVAL  AT  CIRCLE  CITY— DANCE  HALLS  AND  OTHER 
PLACES  OF  AMUSEMENT  —  THE  YUKON  SLED — 
ALASKAN  DOGS  AND  THEIR  PECULIARITIES. 

Pushing  on  to  Circle  City  —  Some  of  the  Yukon  Creeks  —  Okl  Man 
Rock  and  Old  Woman  Rock  —  A  Flight  of  Native  Fancy  —  The 
Poor  Man  and  His  Scolding  AVife  —  His  Last  Resort  and  its 
Petrifying  Results  —  Prospecting  American  Creek  —  Our  Lumber 
Venture  —  A  Thunder  Storm  and  a  Wreck  —  Escaping  on  the 
Tar  Stater  —  Arriving  at  Circle  City  —  Our  Reception  —  Some  of 
the  City's  Institutions — Convenience  of  the  Saloons  —  No  money 
but  Gold  Dust  —  How  Purchases  Are  Made  —  The  Dance  Halls  — 
The  Relaxation  of  Faro  —  Dogs  Invade  Our  Boat  —  Their  Thieving 
Propensities  —  Faithful  Workers  —  Their  Enormous  and  Indiscrim- 
inating  Appetite  —  Eating  Their  Harness  —  An  Arctic  Turnout  — 
The  Dog  Whip  and  Its  Uses — The  Yukon  Sled  — "  Ouk,"  "Arrah," 
and  "Holt." 

FINDING  no  promising  opportunity  for  suddenly  be- 
coming rich  on  the  creeks  of  Forty  Mile,  as  all  the 
best  locations  appeared  to  be  occupied,  we  concluded 
to  return  to  the  town  and  to  push  on  towards  Circle  City, 
which  was  reported  to  be  flourishing  in  the  most  magical 
manner,  and  where  wages  were  high,  whether  the  mines 
proved  profitable  or  not.  We  each  located  a  claim,  how- 
ever, on  one  of  the  Forty  Mile  creeks  least  prospected. 
There  could  be  no  doubt  that  there  was  gold  enough  in 
that  section,  if  the  mines  could  be  properly  worked.  One 
man  we  saw  had  cleaned  up  $50,000  as  a  result  of  three 

(158) 


AN  ALASKAN   LEGEND  159 

months'  work  on  his  claim,  but  much  dead  work  was 
necessary  and  heavy  expenses  were  to  come  out  of  tliis. 

Circle  City  is  about  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
further  down  the  Yukon,  which  continues  in  its  same  gen- 
eral character  much  of  the  way.  A  large  number  of 
streams  flow  into  it,  all  called  creeks,  although  they  are 
of  considerable  size.  Small  steamers  could  make  their  way 
up  them  but  for  the  bars  at  points. 

Where  the  river  cuts  the  boundary  line  it  flows  between 
two  large  rooks,  one  called  Old  Man  Rock,  on  the  west  side, 
and  the  other.  Old  Woman  Rock,  on  the  east.  These 
respectful  appellations  are  the  translations  from  Indian 
names,  which,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  are  derived  from 
a  legend,  indicating  that  even  in  the  dull  intellect  of  the 
natives  there  are  occasional  flights  of  the  imagination,  such 
as  among  other  more  promising  aborigines  have  been  woven 
into  graceful  song  and  stirring  epics.  Tliis  legend,  as  it  has 
been  culled  from  natives  by  traders  who  are  not  experts  in 
legendary  lore,  and  which  therefore  may  be  somewhat 
misty  in  spots,  runs  something  like  this : 

In  remote  ages  there  lived  here  a  powerful  tshauman, 
which  is  the  equivalent  in  the  speech  of  these  interior  In- 
dians to  the  word  "  shaman,"  —  medicine  man  —  used  by 
the  tribes  of  the  south  coast.  These  medicine  men  are  the 
magi,  or  wise  men,  of  the  Alaskans,  and  by  their  absurd 
mana'uvcrs  exercise  a  wonderful  influence  over  the  super- 
stitious natives.  In  this  powerful  tshauman's  locality  there 
lived  a  poor  man  who,  like  Socrates,  had  an  inveterate  scold 
for  a  wife.  He  bore  his  troubles  for  a  long  time  without 
murmuring,  in  the  hopes  that  she  would  relent,  but  time 
only  served  to  increase  the  infliction.  At  length,  his  pa- 
tience weakening  under  the  unceasing  torment,  he  com- 


160  A  WARNING  TO  SCOLDS 

plained  to  the  tsliauman,  who,  of  course,  went  through  some 
of  the  motions  common  to  all  powerful  wise  men  in  his 
position,  and  then  sent  the  poor  man  home,  telling  him  that 
in  a  short  time  all  would   be  well. 

Soon  after  this  the  poor  man  went  out  to  hunt,  and 
remained  away  for  many  days,  endeavoring  to  secure  some 
provisions  for  home  use,  but  without  avail.  He  returned, 
weary  and  hungry,  only  to  be  met  by  his  wife  with  a  more 
than  usually  violent  outburst  of  scolding.  This  so  pro- 
voked him  that  he  gathered  all  his  strength  for  one  grand 
effort,  and  gave  her  a  kick  that  sent  her  clear  across  the 
river,  which  is  here  about  half  a  mile  wide.  On  landing, 
she  was  converted  into  a  mass  of  stone,  which  remains  to 
this  day  as  a  monument  to  her  viciousness,  and  a  warning 
to  all  female  scolds.  Of  course,  it  was  the  tshauman  who 
effected  the  metamorphosis,  and  there  is  some  doubt  as  to 
whether  it  was  he  or  the  enraged  husband  who  did  the  kick- 
ing, but  it  makes  little  difference,  as  the  husband  could 
not  have  done  it  had  not  the  tshauman  rendered  some  mirac- 
ulous assistance. 

Like  a  great  many  other  ancient  legends,  important 
features  are  left  unexplained,  as,  for  instance,  how  it  was 
that  the  husband,  after  kicking  his  spouse  across  the  river, 
was  himself  turned  into  a  mass  of  rock.-  The  Indian  intel- 
lect, having  gone  thus  far  in  its  flight  of  poetic  fancy,  doubt- 
less become  quite  exhausted,  and  was  unable  to  proceed. 
Perhaps  the  old  man  was  petrified  with  astonishment  at  the 
remarkable  effect  of  his  kick.  From  an  artistic  standpoint, 
it  will  be  seen  that  it  lacks  some  of  those  rare  qualities  of 
those  northern  legends  which  the  genius  of  "Wagner  has  set 
to  sonl-stirrina'  strains.  But  it  is  a  remarkably  sublime 
fancy  for  a  Yukon  Indian. 


THE   WRECK   OF  THE  RAFT  161 

Going  on  a  few  miles,  we  came  to  American  Creek,  and 
Joe's  disposition  to  prospect  got  the  best  of  him  for  a  while. 
It  looked  promising,  so  we  entered  and  spent  a  few  days 
there.  We  found  gold,  but  none  of  our  diggings  averaged 
more  than  five  dollars  a  day,  and  it  would  be  better  to  work 
for  wages,  which  were  reported  to  be  at  least  ten  dollars  a 
day  at  Circle  City,  than  to  bother  with  dirt  of  that  kind. 

Having  learned  that  good  logs  were  in  great  demand 
at  Circle  City  for  building  purposes,  we  stopped  on  our  way 
down  the  river  at  a  place  where  the  timber  was  particularly 
good_,  and  constructed  a  raft  of  fine  spruce  timber.  But 
we  had  proceeded  but  a  little  way  with  this  down  the  swift 
current  when  we  were  caught  in  a  thunder  storm,  which 
came  up  suddenly,  and,  like  everything  else  in  this  great 
country,  operated  on  a  large  scale.  In  these  silent  solitudes 
a  clap  of  thunder  caroms  through  the  hills  in  mighty  rever- 
berations, and  the  claps  follow  on  each  other's  heels  so 
rapidly,  and  their  reverberations  become  so  confused,  that 
they  seem  to  be  tearing  each  other  and  the  hills  into  frag- 
ments. 

The  roar  was  deafening,  the  rain  was  blinding,  the  wind 
was  like  the  blast  from  a  mighty  air  pump,  driving  the 
murky  waters  of  the  river  into  a  frenzy.  The  Tar  Htater, 
which  was  tied  by  her  nose  to  the  raft,  danced  about,  while 
the  water  swept  over  the  raft,  nearly  taking  us  from  our 
feet.  Desperately  we  poled  along,  trying  to  keep  in  the 
stream,  but,  in  spite  of  all  efforts,  the  raft  ran  with  fearful 
force  on  a  bar,  and  instantly  began  to  break  to  pieces.  We 
had  barely  time  to  jump  into  the  boat  and  cut  the  rope  be- 
fore being  thrown  into  the  river.  With  great  difficulty 
we  worked  toward  a  partly  sheltered  bank,  and  there 
awaited  the  passing  of  the  furious  storm.     That  ended  our 


162  A  COSMOPOLITAN   CITY 

lumber  venture,  and  towards  evening  we  continued  our 
way  down  in  the  boat. 

After  rowing"  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from 
the  boundary  line,  we  drifted  into  the  Yukon  flats  and  the 
center  of  a  great  mining  district,  that  of  Birch  Creek  and 
the  upper  Tanana.  Circle  City,  the  metropolis  of  this  great 
region,  and  then  claimed  to  be  the  largest  log  city  in  the 
world,  makes  a  brave  front  on  its  bluff,  overlooking  the 
river.  At  the  time  we  reached  it  it  was  the  booming  town 
of  Alaska,  and  had  nearly  a  thousand  inhabitants.  It  had 
more  during  the  Avinter,  but  at  this  season  many  of  the 
miners  had  gone  over  to  the  creek,  which  is  reached  by  a 
six-mile  portage,  to  work  their  claims. 

It  Avas  early  in  July  when  we  arrived  in  sight  of  this 
place,  and  during  the  twilight  hour,  that  l)rief  space  of  time 
during  the  summer  months  when  the  sun  dips  below  the 
horizon,  spreading  the  whole  sky  above  with  a  wondrous 
mellow  light.  We  anchored  our  boat  out  from  the  shore 
in  a  sort  of  slough,  and  went  up  to  see  the  city. 

The  places  of  business  face  the  river,  and  Avere  going  at 
full  blast.  There  Avas  a  theater,  four  large  Avarehouses, 
three  stores,  and  three  blacksmith  shops.  AVe  counted 
tAventy-eight  saloons  and  eight  dance  halls.  Back  of  these 
Avere  log  houses,  interspersed  Avith  tents,  laid  out  in  fair 
order,  and  altogether  presenting  a  A^ery  comfortable  ap- 
pearance for  these  regions.  Our  approach  had  been  noted 
from  the  shore,  and  there  was  a  general  gathering  to  Avel- 
come  us,  for  the  appearance  of  a  boat  on  the  river,  no  matter 
hoAV  small,  is  an  event  in  this  far-away  center  of  civilization. 
It  Avas  a  cosmopolitan  croAvd  of  men  and  Avomen  from  every- 
Avhere  in  Xorth  America,  a  sprinkling  of  dirty  Indians,  and 
a  croAvd  of  hoAAding  dogs. 


THE   PRECIOUS   DUST  163 

The  stores  and  saloons  are  the  only  places  to  go  to.  If 
seeking  information,  it  is  found  there.  If  looking  for  a 
friend  or  acquaintance,  the  chances  are  that  he  will  not  be 
at  his  cabin,  but  in  the  saloons  or  one  of  the  stores.  Nearly 
all  the  men  congregate  in  the  saloons,  tell  yarns,  play  cards, 
and  occasionally  drink  too  much,  though  a  man  without 
gold  dust  is  not  in  danger  of  it,  for  prices  are  high.  The 
tenderfoot  will  doubtless  expect  to  see  men  going  about 
with  a  gun  and  knives  stuck  in  their  belts,  but,  rough  as 
humanity  is  here,  it  generally  has  an  orderly  appearance. 

There  is  no  specie  except  such  as  newcomers  manage 
to  bring  in  over  the  passes  or  up  the  river.  Everything 
is  transacted  in  gold  dust.  Every  man  and  woman  carries 
a  buckskin  sack,  and  when  they  enter  a  store  to  make  pur- 
chases they  throw  out  their  sack  of  dust,  and  the  amount 
of  the  purchase  is  weighed  out  in  front  of  the  purchaser. 
The  seller  never  cheats  himself,  but  makes  sufficient  allow- 
ance for  poor  dust.  For  instance,  a  man  who  puts  twenty 
dollars'  worth  of  dust  in  his  sack,  and  goes  from  place  to 
place  making  purchases,  wnll  find  that  he  gets  but  about 
eighteen  dollars'  worth  of  goods  for  his  twenty  dollars. 
Sometimes  in  the  stores  the  dust  on  five  hundred  dollars' 
Avorth  of  sales  will  weigh  up  to  five  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars,  but,  of  course,  it  works  both  ways  in  the  long  run. 
It  seems  to  be  more  the  custom  of  the  place  than  a  trick  of 
dishonesty.  But  the  dust  and  the  scales  are  always  in  evi- 
dence, even  if  it  is  nothing  l)ut  a  spool  of  thread  that  is 
desired.  (^lo  into  a  saloon  and  buy  a  cigar,  and  fifty  cents 
worth  of  your  dust  is  weighed  out;  if  a  man  drinks,  fifty 
cents'  worth  of  dust  goes  out  of  his  sack  for  one  of  the  worst 
mixtures  that  ever  was  labeled  whisky. 

A  dance  hall  at  Circle  City  at  this  time  was  not  such  n 


104  THE   ENLIVENMENT   OF   A  REEL 

den  of  wickedness  as  is  generally  supposed  by  those  who  read 
newspaper  accounts  of  life  in  these  far-off  mining  camps.  In 
18UG  the  Alaska  jjlaces  had  not  become  sufficiently  attract- 
ive to  draw  thither  in  large  numbers  the  professional  rough 
element.  It  is  rather  one  of  the  institutions  of  society  as 
it  must  exist  here,  among  hard-working  miners,  like  the 
blacksmith  shop,  or  the  schoolhouse  which  sets  back  among 
the  cabins.  It  is  a  community  of  men,  rough  in  aspect, 
but  not  wholly  vicious.  After  long  seasons  of  hard  work 
in  the  mines  up  the  creek,  or  after  tiresome  journeys  over 
steep  and  dangerous  trails,  in  the  solitudes  of  the  great  for- 
ests, or  among  the  mountains,  even  the  rasping  music  of  a 
dance  hall  sounds  sweet.  The  rough  miner  delights  in  a 
bit  of  a  square  dance,  or  the  enlivenment  of  a  reel,  or,  pos- 
sibly, if  his  early  education  has  not  been  neglected,  of  a 
waltz  or  polka.  He  knows  that  he  is  in  a  society  which 
cares  nothing  about  the  cut  of  his  clothes,  and  is  not  critical 
about  the  grace  of  his  step.  A  touch  of  feminine  life,  even 
if  not  all  that  the  fastidious  or  the  strictly  moral  might 
desire,  comes  like  a  warm  breath  from  the  southern  lati- 
tude over  the  frozen  hills,  a  reminder  of  the  city  life  in 
the  States. 

Of  course,  the  miners  have  to  pay  well  for  it,  as  for 
everj^thing  else.  Before  he  leads  "  one  of  the  charming 
young  ladies  "  into  a  set  on  the  floor  he  must  dig  a  dollar's 
worth  of  dust  out  of  his  sack.  The  young  lady  gets  a  quar- 
ter of  it,  and  the  house,  which  takes  the  rest,  furnishes  the 
pair  a  drink  if  they  call  for  it.  The  miner  need  not  pull  off 
his  big  boots  and  put  on  pumps,  or  even  take  his  hat  off, 
and  he  can  swing  his  partner  with  all  the  gusto  of  which 
he  is  capable.  Every  set  he  dances  in  costs  him  a  dollar, 
and  a  round  dance  the  same.     The  man  who  plays  the  violin 


DREAMS   OF  EQUALITY  REALIZED  1G5 

on  the  roiiglily-improvised  platform  receives  anywhere 
from  twenty-live  dollars  to  forty  dollars  a  night.  He  does 
not  need  to  snffer  the  hardships  of  working  a  claim,  but 
the  chances  are  that  he  has  one,  and  that  someone  is  work- 
ing it  for  him. 

If  the  miner  does  not  take  to  dancing  he  can  seek  relax- 
ation at  the  faro  table.  If  he  loses,  as  he  probably  does, 
there  is  more  dust  in  the  hole  on  his  claim  up  the  creek;  if 
he  wins,  so  much  the  better.  Under  such  conditions,  and 
loading  a  life  which  for  many  days  in  the  year  is  full  of 
hardships,  he  seeks  amusement  when  the  chance  offers,  and 
is  satisfied  that  he  is  getting  his  money's  worth,  no  matter 
what  it  costs.  Every  one  is  on  a  perfect  equality.  The  col- 
lege man,  if  he  happens  to  be  here,  is  no  better  than  anyone 
else;  a  man  with  thousands  of  gold  dust  tied  up  in  his  belt 
exhibits  no  haughtiness ;  indeed,  in  the  busy  season,  he  may 
not  be  able  to  buy  a  lodging,  and  may  pay  for  the  privilege 
of  sleeping  on  the  dance-house  floor  "  after  the  ball  is  over." 
Here  the  socialist  might  see  the  realization  of  some  of  his 
dreams  of  equality,  but  there  are  precious  few,  I  imagine, 
who  would  have  the  fortitude  to  brave  the  dangers  of  a 
miner's  life  under  the  midnight  sun,  to  enjoy  the  realization 
of  the  dream. 

After  observing  something  of  the  town,  and  making 
some  arrangements  for  a  temporary  abode,  Joe  and  I  went 
liack  to  our  boat,  where  we  learned  other  facts  concerning 
the  ways  and  possibilities  of  the  country.  While  we  were 
away  the  dogs  had  swam  out  to  our  boat,  chewed  off  the 
rope  by  which  it  was  held,  and  dragged  it  ashore.  There 
they  tore  open  every  sack  of  ]>rovisions  we  had,  and.  when 
we  approached,  were  having  a  regular  feast.  Thev  had  even 
chewed  up  some  of  the  flour  sacks  and  the  dishrag,  the 


IGG  DOGS   AND   THEIR   DOINGS 

flavor  of  which  was  undoubtedly  agreeable  to  them.  Every- 
thing in  the  boat  was  wet,  and  the  damage  we  figured  up  to 
amount  to  forty  dollars.  Everyone  who  gets  along  well 
in  Ahiska  must  have  a  proper  understanding  of  dogs,  and 
a  few  facts  concerning  them  may  be  established  at  this  point, 
though  the  pioneer  may  not  acquire  a  complete  knowledge 
of  them  until  he  has  been  some  time  in  the  country. 

Dogs  are  fed  here  but  once  a  day,  unless  they  find  an 
opportunity  to  feed  themselves,  and  they  rarely  let  an 
available  opportunity  slip,  even  if  they  have  to  bite  through 
a  tin  can  or  climb  a  pole.  They  are  fed  dried  fish,  whenever 
it  can  be  obtained;  if  unobtainable,  bacon  and  flour.  All 
provisions  must  be  set  up  on  a  cache,  and  that  should  be 
as  high  as  possible,  or  they  will  climb  up  to  it  when  there 
is  no  one  at  hand  to  disturb  them.  They  will  lie  down  in- 
nocently enough  near  a  tent,  watching  and  waiting  for  hours 
for  the  owner  to  leave  and  give  them  a  chance  to  ransack  it. 
I  have  known  them  to  come  into  my  tent,  go  up  to  a  boiling- 
pot  of  beans  on  the  stove,  push  ofi"  the  cover,  take  out  the 
piece  of  bacon,  and  walk  ofi^  with  their  tails  curled  up  over 
their  backs  in  the  most  nonchalant  manner. 

But  they  are  too  precious  to  shoot.  They  are  a  prime 
necessity  in  Alaska,  and  are  sometimes  worth  almost  their 
weight  in  gold.  They  do  nearly  all  the  packing  in  the 
summer,  and  they  will  carry  from  forty  to  fifty  pounds, 
keeping  up  with  a  man.  In  the  winter  they  do  all  the 
freighting,  haul  all  the  wood,  and  canw  the  mails.  Har- 
nessed tandem  to  sleds  —  and  I  have  seen  twenty  in  a  single 
string  —  they  will  go  anvwhere,  ninety  miles  from  Circle 
City  to  the  mines,  or  a  thousand  to  Juneau,  and  if  a  man 
wishes  to  take  out  for  a  drive  one  of  the  few  young  ladies 
of  the  city  who  conforms  to  his  ideas  of  respectability,  and 


A   YOUNG   lady's   DIVERSION  167 

whose  acquaintance  is,  therefore,  of  considerable  value,  he 
rigs  up  a  couple  of  dog  teams,  for  Yukon  sleds  hold  but 
one,  and  off  they  go.  But  there  is  very  little  driving  for 
pleasure  over  the  Arctic  snows,  though  the  experience  is 
not  without  its  delights,  so  unique  are  all  the  conditions. 

I  met  one  young  lady  who  had  become  enthusiastic  over 
dog-sled  rides  for  pleasure.  Her  father  owned  a  fine 
team  of  native  dogs  and  she  had  a  good  Yukon  sled.  The 
winter  before,  when  the  weather  was  clear,  and  often  when 
the  thermometer  was  hovering  far  below  zero,  she  used  to 
bundle  up  in  her  fur  parka  and  moccasins,  slip  the  dogs 
into  their  harness,  and  streak  off  across  the  frozen  flats,  going- 
many  miles  before  she  returned.  Squeezed  down  into  the 
little  box  of  a  sled,  wrapped  in  furs  so  that  she  could  hardly 
move,  and  so  that  little  but  her  eyes  could  be  seen,  she  flew 
along  after  the  scampering  dogs,  up  and  down,  over  the 
deep  snow. 

"  Tip  over  ?  Oh,  yes,  many  times,"  she  said,  laugh- 
ingly, "  but  that's  a  part  of  the  fun.  And  sometimes  I 
would  have  to  get  out  and  run  along  with  the  dogs.  Those 
rides  did  me  more  good  than  any  sleighride  I  ever  had  over 
your  smooth,  monotonous  roads  after  a  big  horse.  These 
dog  turnouts  are  positively  delightful." 

Two  good  dogs  will  haul  from  five  to  six  hundred  pounds 
on  a  good  trail,  and  run  twenty-five  miles  in  six  hours,  and 
they  will  haul  a  man  from  forty  to  fifty  miles  a  day  and 
show  little  sign  of  weariness.  A  native  Yukon  dog  is  much 
more  valuable  than  any  importation  because  they  endure 
the  climate  so  much  better.  The  natives  are  of  all  colors, 
and  most  of  them  have  very  long  hair,  as  fine  as  wool.  They 
look  like  wolves,  but  they  rarely  bite  or  bark  at  persons. 
They  simply  howl.     They  are  faithful  to  the  last  degree 


168  AN  INSATIATE  APPETITE 

iu  their  work,  and  have  that  single  failing  —  they  are  born 
thieves. 

Buckskin  moccasins  are  provided  by  many  owners  to 
keep  the  feet  of  the  faithful  little  animals  from  becoming 
raw  and  sore  on  the  ice  and  snow.  They  are  made  like  a 
child's  stocking,  about  nine  inches  long.  Sometimes  pack- 
saddles  are  used,  whereby  a  dog  can  carry  from  ten  to 
twenty  pounds,  besides  drawing  a  sled.  A  dog  harness 
commonly  weighs  a  little  over  two  pounds.  The  collar, 
which  is  usually  made  of  leather,  faced  with  sheepskin,  and 
stuffed  with  deer  hair,  slips  over  the  dog's  head  —  fumbling 
with  buckles  would  be  severe  on  the  fingers  in  Arctic 
weather  —  and  on  each  collar  are  rings,  to  which  the  traces 
are  attached.  These  traces  are  usually  made  of  heavy  web 
material,  otherwise  the  dogs  would  eat  them  up.  They 
have  an  insatiable  appetite  for  leather,  and  will  devour  their 
collars  if  they  are  allowed  a  chance.  They  have  t-o  be  kept 
separate  when  harnessed,  or  they  will  eat  each  other's  col- 
lars, and  when  the  web  traces  become  oily  they  will  eat 
them.  They  are  so  adroit  that,  sooner  or  later,  even  with 
the  most  careful  master,  they  will  devour  their  trappings. 
An  Arctic  appetite  is  something  enormous  in  a  man,  but  it 
is  completely  distanced  by  that  of  a  dog. 

An  old  prospector  in  Alaska  told  me  that  once  wdien  he 
w'as  driving  a  pair  of  native  dogs  one  of  them  slipped  his 
collar  while  he  was  camping  for  the  night  near  Fort  Yukon, 
and  ate  up  a  pair  of  large  gauntlet  gloves,  all  the  leather  off 
a  snow-shoe,  a  whip,  and  a  part  of  the  handle,  a  long  leather 
strap  on  a  gun  case,  and  the  leather  binding  on  the  canvas 
case,  and  badly  chewed  a  part  of  the  harness.  TVlien  the 
man  got  up  in  the  morning  the  dog  was  asleep,  and  never 
showed  any  sijrns  of  the  night's  dissipation.  But  these  dogs 
will  do  a  good  day's  work  on  four  pounds  of  dried  fish. 


WHIPS    THAT    MAKE   THE    FUR   FLY  171 

They  do  not  drive  themselves.  A  good  leader  is  gen- 
erally placed  ahead,  but  dogs  \(^ill  often  lie  down  in  the 
trail  unless  kept  going.  They  are  driven  with  a  dogwhip, 
a  device  which  is  a  miracle  in  the  hands  of  an  expert,  but 
a  dangerous  thing  in  the  hands  of  a  novice.  It  has  a  handle 
about  nine  inches  long,  and  a  lash  about  thirty  feet  long, 
and  weighs  four  pounds.  Tlie  lash  is  made  of  folded  and 
plaited  seal-hide,  and  for  five  feet  from  the  handle  averages 
about  one  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter;  then,  for  fourteen 
feet,  it  gradually  tapers  off,  ending  in  a  single  thong  half 
an  inch  thick  and  eleven  feet  long.  When  traveling  tlie 
lash  drags  along  at  full  length  behind,  and,  when  the  driver 
wishes  to  make  use  of  it,  he  gives  a  skillful  jerk  and  twist 
of  the  wrist  which  cause  the  lash  to  fly  forward,  the  thick 
part  first,  the  tapering  end  continuing  the  motion  till  it  snape 
at  full  length  ahead.  Sometimes  it  is  merely  snapped  over 
the  heads  of  the  dogs  as  a  reminder  or  warning,  but  a  skill- 
ful driver  can  pick  out  any  dog  in  a  team  and  touch  almost 
any  spot  on  a  dog's  back,  and,  if  hit  just  right,  the  fur  will 
fly.  But  till  the  driver  is  used  to  the  management  of  this 
weapon,  he  is  liable  to  receive  most  of  the  injury  himself, 
for  when  awkwardly  thrown  the  lash  may  wind  about  him 
like  a  snake  and  inflict  painful  injuries  on  his  own  face. 

The  standard  sled  for  an  Arctic  traveler  consists  of  a 
narrow  box  four  feet  long,  the  front  half  being  covered  or 
boxed  in,  mounted  on  a  board  eight  feet  long,  resting  on 
runners.  In  this  box  the  passenger  sits,  wrapjied  in  skins 
so  that  he  can  hardly  move,  with  only  his  head  and  shoulders 
projecting.  In  front  and  behind  and  on  top  of  the  box  is 
])laced  all  the  luggage,  covered  wntli  canvas,  and  securely 
lashed,  to  withstand  all  the  jolting  and  possible  upsets,  and 
the  snow-shoes  are  kept  within  easy  reach. 


172  HOW   THE   DOGS   ARE   GUIDED 

The  dogs  are  harnessed  to  the  front  of  the  sled,  some- 
times each  by  a  separate  trace.  The  nearest  dog  is  about 
fifteen  feet  from  the  sled  and  the  leader,  with  bells  on  his 
neck,  as  far  off  as  the  number  of  dogs  in  the  team.  They 
are  guided  by  the  voice,  using  husky  Esquimaux  words, 
"  owk  "  —  go  to  the  right;  "  arrah  "  —  to  the  left;  and 
'"  holt  "  —  straight  on.  If  the  driver  nms  ahead  on  snow- 
shoes,  as  is  frequently  required,  the  dogs  will  follow  him. 


CHAPTER  XI 

GUARDING  AGAINST  EVIL-DOERS  —LIFE  IN  A  GOLD-SEEK- 
ER'S CABIN— HOW  IT  IS  BUILT  AND  FURNISHED. 

Society  in  Circle  City  —  Cabin  Doors  Open  —  Tlie  Punishment  of  Evil- 
doers —  Miners'  Meetings  —  Methods  of  Procedure  —  Judge  and 
Jury  —  No  Pistols  —  Our  JNloney  Runs  Low — Joe  Hurries  to  tte 
Mines  —  Great  Demand  for  Log  Buildings  —  High  Price  of  Lots  — 
Process  of  Building  a  Cabin  —  Two  Things  to  Remember  —  How 
the  Moss  Comes  into  Play  —  Doors  and  Windows — The  Interior 
of  Cabins  —  Rude  Furniture  —  Unique  Beds  —  Something  More 
Substantial  —  The  Yukon  Palace  —  Access  to  the  Second  Story  — 
How  Storm  Sheds  are  Made  —  Tents  Good  Enough  for  People 
with  No  Gold  Dust  —  A  Man  With  an  Axe  a  Skilled  Workman  — 
A  Bustling  Scene  —  Logs  and  Chips  Everywhere  —  An  Ounce  a 
Day  for  Some  Workmen  —  Dreaming  of  a  Coming  Metropolis  on 
the  Yukon. 

WE  found  society  at  Circle  City  not  at  all  bad  for  a 
mining  town.  Being  on  the  American  side,  no 
authority  existed  there  except  miners'  law,  but 
under  that  one  must  walk  straight  as  far  as  honesty  goes. 
With  all  the  idleness,  drinking,  and  gambling,  there  was 
less  crime  there  than  would  be  found  in  most  cities  of  its 
size  in  the  United  States.  Cabin  doors  were  nearly  always 
left  unlocked,  and  in  them  bags  of  gold  and  other  valuables 
were  left  when  the  owners  were  away.  The  Miners'  As- 
sociation was  more  feared  by  evil-doers  than  any  courts  or 
police  would  have  been.     To  be  sent  down  the  river  in  a 

small  boat  was  to  delinquents  a  worse  punishment  than  im- 
11  (1T3) 


174  AN   EFFICIENT   COURT 

prisonment,  and  it  might  happen  that  no  boats  were  avail- 
able and  the  evil-doer  would  depart  on  a  log.  Depart  he 
must.'  To  be  turned  out  to  shift  for  one's  self  in  Alaska  is 
no  laughing  matter. 

In  minor  cases  simply  involving  disputes  over  money  or 
claims,  the  miners'  meetings  appeared  to  afford  satisfactory 
justice,  and  they  had  not  become  liable  to  some  of  the 
abuses  noted  elsewhere.  When  such  a  meeting  is  called 
all  the  miners  at  hand  assemble,  a  chairman  and  secretary 
are  appointed,  and  the  plaintiff  is  called  upon  to  state  his 
case.  Then  the  defendant  is  heard,  and  any  other  testi- 
mony introduced.  The  assembled  miners  act  as  the  judge 
and  jury  together,  can  ask  all  the  questions  they  desire,  and 
make  any  motion  they  please.  Any  motion  that  is  carried 
for  the  disposal  of  the  case  settles  it,  and  a  committee  is  ap- 
pointed to  see  that  the  judgment  is  carried  out.  So  long- 
as  the  majority  of  the  miners  are  actuated  by  a  sense  of  see- 
ing fair  play  for  every  man,  no  court  could  be  more  efficient 
or  just.  The  element  of  danger  comes  when  a  little  frontier 
politics  works  its  way  into  the  system  and  justice  is  defeated 
by  some  man  of  influence,  who  more  than  likely  may  be  a 
saloon-keeper.  But  so  far  as  I  witnessed  the  operation  of 
justice  in  Circle  City  at  this  time,  it  was  adequate  and  fair. 
There  being  no  police  force  at  hand,  as  over  the  Canadian 
border,  and  the  authority  of  the  United  States  being  too  far 
off  to  be  effective,  the  miners  fully  realized  the  importance 
of  not  abusing  their  own  authority,  and  of  being  fair  and 
just  to  all  concerned.  The  judgments  rendered  would 
sometimes  appear  curious  to  an  outsider,  but  when  all  the 
conditions  of  life  in  these  regions  were  taken  into  account, 
their  rationality  would  become  apparent. 

It  was  a  miners'  law  that  no  pistol  should  be  carried  in 


A   TWO-YEAR   OLD   TOWN  175 

the  citj,  and  it  was  obeyed.  A  spirit  of  good  feeling  and 
good  comradeship  prevailed.  There  was  a  sort  of  feeling 
that  the  dangers  of  existence  here  were  too  many  and  too 
real  to  have  them  aggravated  by  any  unnecessary  outbreaks 
of  the  evil  side  of  human  nature.  Questionable  as  some  of 
the  characters  were  in  this  booming  town,  there  were  many 
respectable  families  there,  the  education  of  the  children 
was  provided  for,  a  good  hospital  was  among  the  institutions, 
and  it  was  as  complete  a  town  as  one  could  expect  on  the 
Yukon,  founded  as  it  was  but  two  years  before,  and  rising  so 
suddenly  to  importance  in  1896. 

Joe,  w4th  the  restlessness  of  an  old  prospector,  was  in- 
clined to  make  for  the  mines  at  once,  but  as  wages  were 
averaging  about  twelve  dollars  a  day  in  the  city,  and  as  our 
supply  of  money  had  run  low  because  of  our  misfortunes  on 
the  trip,  I  was  disposed  to  work  awhile  in  the  city,  and 
acquire  some  shelter  and  provisions  for  the  winter.  So  we 
concluded  to  separate  for  a  time.  I  Avas  handy  with  car- 
penters' tools,  and  with  the  axe,  and  (juickly  secured  a  job 
putting  up  log  cabins,  for  which  there  was  a  gTeat  demand 
at  this  time.  One  could  fairly  see  the  city  spread  out  and 
grow.  Lots  in  good  locations  were  selling  for  five  thousand 
dollars  and  over. 

Log  houses  may  be  made  pretentious  or  otherwise,  de- 
pending upon  the  uses  to  which  they  are  to  be  put.  An 
ordinary  dwelling  for  the  accommodation  of  two  or  three 
people  need  not  be  large  —  fourteen  feet  l\y  sixteen  feet  in 
the  clear,  that  is  to  say,  built  of  sixteen  feet  and  eighteen 
feet  logs.  To  a  lumberman  or  carpenter  the  building  of 
such  a  cabin  is  an  easy  matter,  and  a  green  hand  who  is 
handy  can  learn  very  quickly  how  to  put  it  up.  There  are 
two  things  to  remember.     The  cabin  must  be  built. to  keep 


176  BUILDING   A   LOG   CABIN 

the  cold  out  iu  the  winter,  and  to  keep  the  mosquitoes  out 
in  the  summer.  For  this  the  cabin  must  be  equally  tight, 
for  wherever  a  draft  can  get  in  a  mosquito  mil  find  its  way, 
too. 

iSTo  foundations  are  needed.  The  only  preparation  is 
leveling  oft"  the  frozen  ice  and  '"  muck,"  as  it  is  called.  The 
logs  must  either  be  cut  and  floated  down  the  river,  or  can  be 
bought  as  they  lie  in  the  water  ready  cut  in  proper  lengths. 
The  average  size  of  these  logs  is  seven  inches  in  diameter, 
and  the  length  varies  considerably.  The  cabin  should  be 
seven  feet  high  to  the  ronf  line,  and  so  will  require  at  least 
forty-eight  log's  - —  that  is  twelve  a  side  for  the  walls. 
Smaller  logs  are  used  for  the  gable  ends  and  the  roof,  and 
some  pieces  of  cut  lumber  will  be  needed  for  the  tables, 
stools,  and  bunks.  It  costs  not  less  than  five  hundred  dol- 
lars to  build  a  log  cabin  complete,  as  prices  run  on  the 
Yukon. 

The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  "  spot  "  the  logs.  By  this  a 
lumberman  means  to  strip  off  the  unevenness  and  skin  them 
on  the  top  and  bottom  sides  about  three  inches  wide,  so  as  to 
insure  their  lying  close  together  when  placed  one  upon  the 
other.  All  the  logs  must  then  be  "  notched  "  at  the  end, 
half-way  through,  beginning  five  inches  from  the  end. 
Each  notch  will  have  to  be  about  seven  inches  vdde  and  cut 
half-way  through  the  log,  so  that  wlien  a  similar  notch  is 
cut  in  another  log  the  two  can  be  fitted  together  and  be  level 
top  and  bottom. 

Several  sacks  of  moss  must  be  gathered  in  readiness,  and 
then  the  miner  is  in  shape  to  commence  building  his  home. 
The  two  side  beams  are  laid  in  place  and  the  two  end  beams 
are  put  across,  the  notches  of  the  side  beams  fitting  into 
those  of  the  end  beams  so  that  a  solid  rectangular  frame  is 


PACKING   WITH   MOSQUITO-PROOF  MOSS  17? 

formed.  Moss  must  now  be  spread  all  along  the  top  of  this 
frame  of  logs.  It  should  be  laid  evenly,  about  three  inches 
thick,  and  in  such  manner  that  when  the  next  frame  of  logs 
is  in  place  the  joints  of  the  notches  will  be  held  about  half 
an  inch  apart.  The  reason  for  this  is  that,  as  the  log  house 
is  built  up  higher  and  higher,  the  weight  of  the  upi:)er  logs 
will  gradually  squeeze  down  the  lower  ones  until  the  notches 
are  a  close  fit,  and  in  so  doing  must  squeeze  the  moss  between 
the  logs,  making  it  airtight  and  mosquito-proof.  This  looks 
like  a  very  trifling  matter,  but  it  is  one  of  those  little  things 
upon  which  the  comfort  of  the  whole  cabin  Avill  depend. 
There  are  many  little  matters  like  this  which  are  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  him  who  winters  on  the  Yukon. 

The  walls  are  built  up  solid  like  a  box  to  the  proper 
lieight,  and  the  windows  and  doors  are  put  in  afterwanls. 
When  the  proper  height  for  the  window  is  reached,  vertical 
saw-cuts  should  be  made  in  the  log  the  width  apart  of  the 
windoAv-pane.  These  cuts  are  merely  a  convenience,  so 
that  when  the  cabin  is  finished  it  will  be  an  easy  matter  to 
insert  the  saw  and  cut  down  through  the  logs  on  each  side 
the  square  spaces  into  which  the  window  and  door  are  to  fit. 
The  same  saw-cuts  must  be  made  at  the  height  of  the  top 
of  the  door  for  the  same  reason. 

The  logs  are  laid  up  by  means  of  skids  and  block  and 
tackle.  When  the  walls  have  been  raised  to  the  height  of 
six  feet,  the  roof  logs  are  laid,  those  at  the  ends  being 
shortened  to  correspond  with  the  pitch  desired  to  be  given 
to  the  gable.  This  is  a  part  of  the  work  which  needs  a 
fairly  good  craftsman.  To  the  top  of  the  roof,  that  is  to  the 
ridge-pole,  the  cnbin  is  usually  eleven  feet  high  —  in  other 
words,  the  gal)lo  or  slant  of  the  roof  is  four  feet  higli,  meas- 
ured perpendicularly.     The  logs  for  these  gable-ends  must 


178  A  TIGHT   ROOF   OVERHEAD 

be  cut  in  tlie  proper  lengths.  The  first  one  will  be  about 
t\\'eh'e  feet  and  the  top  only  a  few  inches  long;  the  others 
between  will  be  graded  in  size.  In  order  to  hold  these  logs 
in  place  one  over  the  other,  wooden  pegs  or  dowels  must  be 
made  and  driven  in  tight.  The  dowels  in  each  lower  log 
should  fit  snugly  into  the  upper  ones,  and  be  made  long 
enough  to  allow  for  the  moss  betw^een  the  logs,  and  to  let 
the  upper  logs  press  the  lower  ones  together.  When  the 
logs  are  all  in  place  for  the  gable  ends,  they  must  be 
"  sniped  "  off;  that  is  to  say,  all  the  ends  of  these  logs  must 
be  cut  off  on  the  proper  slant. 

When  the  roof  logs  have  been  laid  and  a  ridge  pole  is  in 
place,  a  rough  roof  of  split  poles  is  laid,  the  poles  extending 
from  the  ridge  to  oiie  or  two  feet  over  the  side  walls,  form- 
ing eaves.  The  poles  are  secured  in  place  by  logs  laid 
across  them  transversely,  through  which  peg-s  may  be  driven 
into  the  poles  of  the  roof  and  logs  of  the  superstructure. 
When  this  has  been  done,  the  poles  are  covered  with  earth 
and  moss  to  the  depth  of  a  foot  or  more,  thus  forming  a  sub- 
stantial, tight  roof  that  excludes  both  wet  and  cold.  In 
making  the  roof  care  is  taken  to  leave  a  vent  at  the  top  in 
addition  to  the  hole  for  a  stove-pipe. 

A  cabin  built  in  this  fashion,  whether  at  the  claim  in  the 
mines,  or  in  the  city,  usually  serves  only  as  a  temporary 
shelter,  and  when  circumstances  warrant  it  a  more  imposing 
and  pennanent  structure  may  be  built.  Should  the  claim 
prove  profitable,  such  a  cabin  will  serve  later  on  as  a  store- 
house, or  should  a  better  abiding  place  be  desired  in  the 
town,  it  may  serve  as  an  ell  to  the  larger  building. 

Rude  bunks  are  made  in  such  a  cabin,  and  a  door  made  of 
whip-sawed  lumber  is  fitted  to  the  opening.  A  fire  is  built 
in  the  center  to  warm  the  interior,  smoke  making  its  escape 


CABIN  FURNITURE  179 

tlirough  the  central  vent  in  the  roof.  The  stove  is  com- 
monly used  in  camp  huts  for  cooking  only,  and  is  not  suf- 
ficient for  warmth  in  severe  winter  weather.  Such  a  cabin, 
while  not  inviting,  is  not  an  unhealthful  shelter.  Having 
been  built  of  green  logs,  its  walls  will  be  ice-coated  through- 
out the  winter  whenever  the  fire  is  out,  as  the  moisture  is 
drawn  from  them  when  the  fire  is  burning. 

The  interior  of  the  cabins  is  pretty  much  the  same  every- 
where. The  beds  or  bunks  are  always  opposite  the  door, 
across  the  far  end  of  the  cabin,  the  table  is  always  under  the 
window,  and  the  stove  on  the  far  side  from  the  window. 
Three  or  four-legged  stools  and  a  few  boxes  complete  the 
furnishing.  All  the  furniture  is  to  be  made  by  the  miner, 
and  having  built  his  cabin  this  cabinet  work  will  not  be  dif- 
ficult. For  the  table,  two  horizontal  props  driven  into  the 
side  of  the  cabin  and  supported  by  slanting  struts  are  all 
that  will  be  necessary.  On  the  horizontal  props  the  table- 
top  of  planks  must  be  nailed.  The  tables  are  usually  large 
enough  for  four  people,  one  at  each  end  and  two  at  the  free 
side. 

The  bed  is  a  shelf  across  the  back  end  of  the  cabin.  Is 
usually  divided  in  the  center,  and  so  wide  that  two  men  can 
sleep  on  each  side  of  the  partition.  It  is  made  in  the 
simplest  way  by  placing  a  pole  horizontally  across  the  end 
of  the  cabin,  say  four  feet  from  the  back  wall,  and  joining 
the  ends  between  the  chinks  of  the  logs  in  the  side  walls. 
The  partition  in  the  center  can  be  made  to  afford  additional 
support.  Some  people  put  the  slats  for  the  bed  across  — 
that  is  to  say,  width-wise  —  but  there  is  more  spring,  more 
ease  and  comfort  if  they  are  placed  lengthwise.  The  mat- 
tress is  nothing  but  moss  and  straw  well  bedded  down. 

In  building  a  new,  substantial,  and  better  arranged  log 


180  A  MANSION   ON   THE   YUKON 

house,  the  first  business  is  to  carefully  select  the  logs.  Drift 
logs  are  preferable,  being  dried  and  seasoned.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  such  the  bark  is  peeled  from  green  logs,  and  they 
are  cut  to  the  desired  length  and  hewn  square  with  adze  and 
broad  axe.  When  the  foot  logs  have  been  laid  —  prefer- 
ably the  largest  and  soundest  obtainable  — -joists  fashioned 
from  whip-sawed  lumber  are  laid  in  mortises  made  in  the 
foot  logs,  and  secured  thereto  with  wooden  pegs  driven 
through  holes  which  have  been  bored  therein.  At  the  cor- 
ners the  logs  are  mortised  so  that  their  round  or  square  sides 
fit  closely  upon  one  another.  But  when  laid  up  a  coating  of 
moss  or  mud  is  used  to  fill  up  all  the  interstices.  Openings 
are  left  in  the  sides  and  ends  for  such  doors  and  windows 
as  may  be  desired.  When  the  side  walls  have  reached  a 
height  of  six  or  eight  feet  in  the  clear  above  the  floor  joists, 
a  second  series  of  joists  for  a  ceiling  and  the  floor  of  an  attic 
may  be  laid  if  desired. 

Having  raised  the  walls  to  the  required  height  the  roof 
construction  is  begun.  Two  forms  are  in  use  in  such  build- 
ings —  one  of  the  kind  already  described  in  the  temporary 
cabin,  the  other  built  of  whip-sawed  timbers  coA'ered  with 
split  shakes  laid  like  shingles.  In  this  form  of  construc- 
tion the  gabled  ends  of  the  building  are  built  either  of 
squared  logs  laid  one  upon  the  other  and  pegged  together, 
and  with  ends  sawed  at  an  angle  corresponding  to  the  angle 
of  the  roof,  or  are  built  of  a  frame  work  of  whip-sawed  lum- 
ber, and  the  space  between  the  joists  and  siding  stuffed  with 
moss. 

When  duly  enclosed  the  spaces  between  the  joists  are 
filled  with  earth  and  moss,  and  the  floors  laid.  The  roof 
is  fitted  with  a  galvanized  chimney,  and  Avhen  the  ceiling 
has  been  finished  the  house  is  read v  for  habitatii  tn.     In  sucli 


THE   LUXURY   OF   A   DWELLING  181 

a  house  access  to  the  garret  is  had  either  by  a  Ladder  nailed 
against  the  wall,  or  a  narrow  stairway,  according  to  the 
fancy  of  the  builder.  Glazed  sashes  are  fitted  to  the  win- 
dows so  as  to  make  them  donble,  and  battened  doors  are 
hung  with  strap  hinges.  Most  of  the  Ynkon  houses  are  but 
one  story  in  height,  but  some  are  two.  In  nearly  all  the 
roof  projects  from  three  to  five  feet  over  the  front  entrance, 
and  a  storm  shed  is  erected  by  standing  poles  upright  from 
the  ground  to  the  roof  as  close  together  as  possible.  By 
having  the  opening  into  this  storm  shed  at  one  side,  the  en- 
trance to  the  dwelling  is  protected  from  the  wind  and  drift- 
ing .snow.      Such  a  dwelling  as  this  is  a  palace  on  the  Yukon. 

The  poor  resident  in  town  or  the  new  pros]3ector  at  the 
mines  is  fortunate  to  have  a  tent  over  his  head.  While  lum- 
ber is  plenty,  cabins  are  expensive  when  labor  is  twelve  dol- 
lars a  day  an-d  over,  and  when  logs  sometimes  have  to  be 
hauled  some  distance  by  dogs.  One  must  have  begun  to 
take  out  gold  dust  in  good  paying  quantities  before  afford- 
ing the  luxury  of  a  good  log  dwelling. 

At  the  time  we  reached  Circle  City  the  demand  for 
capable  workmen  for  building  purposes  was  altogether  out 
of  proportion  to  the  supply.  The  trading  companies  had 
large  buildings  contemplated,  and  any  one  who  could  swing 
an  axe  handily  was  a  skilled  workman  and  commanded  large 
pay.  The  very  lowest  that  was  paid  was  ten  dollars  a  day, 
and  few  could  be  had  to  work  at  that  figure.  To  those  who 
were  skillful  in  fitting  windows,  doors,  shelves,  and  the  like, 
as  high  as  an  ounce  a  day  was  paid  —  seventeen  dollars 
being  the  recognized  value  of  an  ounce  of  gold  on  the 
Yukon. 

Tt  was  indeed  a  bustling  scene  which  Circle  City  pre- 
sented in  the  early  summer  days  of  189G,     The  banks  of  the 


182  BOOM   TIMES   AT   CIRCLE   CITY 

river  and  the  streets  of  the  to'mi  were  covered  with  logs. 
Chips  were  scattered  evervwhere,  and  the  sound  of  the  axe 
and  the  saw  mingled  with  that  of  the  squeak  of  the  violins 
in  the  dance  halls  and  the  howl  of  the  dogs.  The  Birch 
CYeek  mines  were  rich  and  gold  dnst  was  plenty.  There 
was  no  such  thing  as  an  idle  man  if  he  had  any  disposition 
to  work.  People  talked  glibly  of  the  coming  metropolis  of 
the  Yukon.  Xo  one  conld  have  imagined  a  livelier  place  of 
its  size.  Xeither  cotild  any  one  in  the  busy  place  anticipate 
that  within  a  year  it  would  be  as  dead  as  a  door  post — almost 
a  silent  city. 


CHAPTER  XII 

WORK  AND  WAGES  IN  ALASKA  — AGRICULTURAL  POSSI- 
BILITIES IN  THE  ICY  NORTH  — COST  OF  LIVING. 

Mkleading  Rate  of  Wages  —  Cost  of  Bringing  Provisions  to  the  Yukon 
Valley  — A  Sample  Price-List  at  a  Circle  City  Store  — Value  of  Fresh 
Meat  —  A  Roast  of  Beef — A  Woman  Who  Baked  Bread  at  a  Dollar 
a  Loaf  —  Fourteen  Loaves  a  Day  on  a  Yukon  Stove  —  Monotony  of 
Diet  —  Ordinary  Laws  of  Agriculture  Upside  Down  —  Diliiculiies 
of  Raising  Garden  Stuff  —  Plenty  of  Berries  in  the  Summer  —  A 
Dream  of  Agricultural  Possibilities  —  Deceptive  Flatlands  —  Nig- 
gerheads  and  How  They  Grow  —  Grass  That  Makes  Poor  Fodder  — 
A  Question  of  Transportation  —  Has  Not  Been  Regarded  as  a  Poor 
Man's  Country  —  Competition  in  the  Stores  —  Jack  McQuesten  — 
A  Great  Night  at  Circle  City  —  Order  of  Yukon  Pioneers  —  An 
Indication  of  the  Hardships  of  Alaskan  Life. 

IT  may  seem  to  many  hard-worked  individuals  earning 
no  more  than  two  dollars  a  day  in  the  thriving  cities  of 
the  United  States  that  the  mining  centers  of  Alaska 
mnst  afford  a  man  a  fine  opportunity,  wdien  labor  is  so  scarce 
that  it  commands  from  ten  dollars  a  day  tipwards.  But 
scarcity  does  not  figure  in  this  amount  hardly  as  much  as 
the  cost  of  living.  Circle  City  was  more  or  less  regularly 
reached  by  the  Yukon  steamers  from  St.  Michael,  and  the 
trading  companies  have  stores  there,  and,  moreover,  in  the 
summer  of  1896  there  had  been  no  great  rush  for  the  gold 
fields  and  the  town  was  not  faced  by  any  prospects  of 
scarcity  of  provisions.  There  was  every  promise  of  abun- 
dant stores  at  Circle  City  then.     But  to  appreciate  the  high 

(183) 


]S4 


PKEVAILING   PRICES 


cost  of  pro^dsions,  even  when  tliey  are  plenty,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  almost  everything,  except  gold,  must  come 
from  the  Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States  by  the  way  of 
St.  Michael  or  Juneau,  and  that  the  freight  charge  on  the 
river  route  is  about  one  hundred  and  twenty -five  dollars  per 
ton,  while  no  one  could  bring  over  the  pass  more  than  the 
main  things  he  needed,  and  sometimes,  as  in  our  case,  failed 
to  do  that. 

"While  I  was  at  Circle  City,  in  July  of  1806,  the  follow^- 
iug  prices  were  prevailing: 


Flour,  S8  per  hundred  weight. 
Bacon,  40  cents  per  pound. 
Ham,  40  cents  per  pound. 
Beans,  15  cents  per  pound. 
Oatmeal,  15  cents  per  pound. 
Rice,  15  cents  per  pound 
Sugar,  25  cents  per  pound. 
Crackers,  25  cents  per  pound. 
Butter,  §1  per  pound. 
Soda,  $1  per  pound. 
Coffee,  $1  per  pound. 
Tea,  $1.50  per  pound. 
Condensed  Milk,  50  cents  per  can. 
Vinegar,  $2  per  gallon. 
Corned  beef,  50  cents  per  can. 
Baking  powder,  §1  per  pound. 


Dried  fruit,  30  to  50  cents  per  pound. 
Potatoes,  25  cents  per  pound. 
Condensed  potatoes,  30  cents  per 

pound. 
Eggs,  §2.50  per  dozen. 
Lemons,  $3  per  dozen. 
Sulphur,   saltpeter,  alum,  SI  per 

ounce. 
Cathartic  pills,  .$2.00  per  box. 
Overalls,  $2.50  per  pair. 
Hat,  $5  and  up  to  $15. 
Shoes,  $(3  to  $10. 
Cheese  Cloth,  25  cents  per  yard. 
Common   white    cotton    cloth,   25 

cents  per  yard. 


Xo  cloth  could  be  obtained  for  less  than  twenty-five 
cents  per  yard.  The  price  of  bettt-r  qualities  ranged  ac- 
cordingly. Anything  like  a  comfortable  outfit  f(^r  the 
winter  cost  at  least  five  hundred  dollars  at  these  prices,  and 
it  must  not  be  supposed  that  work  was  possible  every  work- 
ing day  in  the  year.  The  expenses  of  living  while  working 
must,  of  coui'se,  take  away  much  of  the  extra  money  earned, 
though  one  confine  himself  to  the  simple  necessities  of  life 
in  such  a  climate. 


A  woman's  enterprise  185 

One  must  kill  or  buy  of  the  Indians  all  the  fresh  meat 
he  enjoys.  The  awakening  from  a  dream  of  a  juicy  beef- 
steak is  very  painful.  The  only  fresh  beef  that  I  ever  heard 
of  in  Circle  City  was  brought  over  the  summit  and  killed 
at  Forty  Mile,  and  a  piece  weighing  ten  and  a  half  pounds 
was  brought  down  and  raffled  off  for  the  benefit  of  the  Circle 
City  Hospital.  In  this  way  the  piece  sold  at  the  rate  of 
nineteen  dollars  and  twenty-seven  cents  per  pound. 

Moose,  bear,  caribou,  and  mountain  sheep  furnish  the 
only  fresh  meat  to  be  obtained,  and  as  a  rule  they  must  be 
hunted.  Everyone  was  too  busy  for  sport  then,  so  at 
times  such  meat  was  very  scarce.  It  readily  brought  twenty- 
five  cents  per  pound  by  the  quarter,  and  sometimes  the  price 
was  much  higher.  Up  near  the  mines,  if  one  were  a  good 
shot,  he  could  secure  a  good  supply  of  game  and  caribou 
meat.  As  I  am  fond  of  hunting  and  claim  to  be  handy 
wdtli  a  rifle,  I  went  in  search  of  game  quite  often  between 
working  hours  when  I  was  at  Circle  City.  It  was  daylight 
all  the  time.  I  had  very  good  luck  in  running  on  to  bears, 
but  as  their  hide  is  of  no  value  except  when  they  first  come 
out  of  their  holes,  and  as  they  are  generally  pretty  lean,  and 
always  tough,  they  are  hardly  worth  the  powder  and  ball. 
One  day  when  I  was  out  hunting  for  caribou  I  came  across 
a  black  bear  and  shot  him,  but  he  was  useless. 

As  an  indication  of  the  cost  of  living  at  Circle  City,  at 
this  time,  I  may  cite  the  enterprise  of  a  woman  with  whom 
T  became  acquainted,  and  who  was  one  of  the  pioneer  female 
gold-hunters  in  this  section.  Mrs.  Wills  had  lived  in  nil 
portions  of  the  AVest,  from  T^ew  Mexico  to  Washington,  and 
liad  followed  vnrious  occupations.  But  the  collapse  of  one 
of  her  enterprises  in  Tacoma  had  necessitated  a  new  move, 
and  she  fixed  her  eyes  on  Alaska. 


186  THE   CIRCLE   CITY   BAKERY 

She  went  first  to  St.  Michael,  and  obtained  employment 
as  a  cook.  She  earned  good  wages,  and,  being  an  excellent 
cook,  soon  became  a  favorite.  Hearing  so  many  stories  of 
life  on  the  Yukon,  she  soon  concluded  that  the  Simon- 
pure  pioneer  life  of  Alaska  was  to  be  found  only  ujDon  that 
river.  Much  to  the  regret  of  the  boarders,  Mrs.  Wills  re- 
signed her  position  as  head  of  the  culinary  department  in  the 
boarding-house  at  St.  Michael,  and  took  passage  on  the 
river  boat  to  Circle  City.  She  took  with  her  the  regulation 
camp  outfit,  and  soon  pitched  her  tent  at  Circle  City.  What 
to  do  was  the  next  question.  After  a  few  days  of  investiga- 
tion she  concluded  that  she  would  set  up  in  business  for  her- 
self. The  very  next  morning  the  Circle  City  bakery  took 
rank  among  the  flourishing  institutions  of  what  was  then  the 
chief  city  of  the  land  of  the  midnight  sun. 

In  her  camp  outfit  she  had  a  sheet-iron  camp  stove  and 
two  baking  pans.  The  two  pans  were  all  that  the  oven 
would  hold,  and  for  that  reason  her  "  bakings  "  were  limited 
to  two  loaves  at  a  "  batch."  But  a  ready  market  was  found 
for  her  bread  at  fifty  cents  a  loaf.  The  miners  soon  learned 
that  Mrs.  AVills  could  "  double  discount  "  them  when  it 
came  to  a  matter  of  baking  bread,  and  before  the  week  was 
over  the  demand  for  Wills's  loaves  was  such  that  the  price 
went  up  to  seventy-five  cents,  and  a  few  days  later  to  one 
dollar,  and  there  it  remained  for  the  season. 

By  working  fourteen  hours  a  day  she  could  turn  out 
twenty-four  loaves,  and  in  the  meantime,  while  the  oven 
Avas  doing  its  share  of  the  work,  Mrs.  "Wills  filled  in  the  time 
washing,  ironing,  and  mending.  Buttons  were  sewed  on  at 
two  bits  a  button,  and  double  that  price  was  charged  for 
patches.  The  day's  baking  was  always  sold  out  a  day  or  two 
in  advance,  and  customers  had  to  wait  their  turn.    On  more 


MONOTONY   OP  ALASKAN  DIET  189 

than  one  occasion  men  fought  for  the  right  to  the  next  loaf, 
and,  to  obviate  further  dilticulties,  Mrs.  Wills  each  after- 
noon sold  twenty-four  slips  of  paper,  numbered  from  one 
to  twenty-four.  The  first  slip  sold  was  'No.  1,  and  so 
on  in  rotation,  until  the  last  fellow  had  to  take  No.  24. 
Each  slip  was  redeemable  next  day  in  bread,  and  Xo.  1 
called  for  the  first  loaf  out  of  the  oven,  and  so  on  down  the 
line  to  the  end ;  and  when  ISTo.  24  was  out  the  bakery  closed 
for  the  night. 

When  side  issues,  such  as  washing  and  mending,  did  not 
encroach  too  much  on  spare  time,  Mrs.  Wills  would  bake  a 
pan  of  biscuits  and  a  batch  or  two  of  cake.  The  biscuits 
went  lively,  and  the  cake  sold  at  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents 
a  pound.  Six  mince  pies,  made  of  moose  meat,  sold  at 
Christmas  time  for  five  dollars  each.  But  Mrs.  Wills  was 
too  busy  with  plain  baking  to  give  much  attention  to  the 
fancy  end  of  the  art.  Her  laundry  business  was  less  flour- 
ishing, for  the  requirements  of  the  miners  in  this  direction 
are  not  large.  Starched  shirts  were  almost  as  scarce  as  palm 
trees. 

The  monotony  of  the  ordinary  Alaskan  diet  is  something 
which  requires  a  strong  stomach  and  the  patience  of  Job.  I 
did  not  appreciate  this  till  afterwards,  when  mntering  in 
the  Klondike,  for  a  tenderfoot  ^vill  gaze  in  wonder  at  the  way 
vegetation  grows  here  in  summer,  and  he  is  a]>t  to  be  de- 
ceived by  visions  of  fresh  vegetables  of  mar^^elous  size  and 
delicious  flavor.  But  all  the  ordinary  laws  of  agriculture 
are  turned  upside  down.  With  the  sun  shining  throughout 
the  twenty-four  hours,  the  plants,  never  resting  at  night, 
hurry  on  with  a  feverish  haste  to  maturity,  but  few  have 
time  to  ripen.  The  summer  lasts  no  more  than  eighty  days, 
on  an  average,  and  though  measured  in  sunlight,  it  is  equal 


1!»0  RAPID   VEGETABLE   GROWTH 

to  one  hundred  and  twenty  days  of  the  growing  capabilities 
of  the  Middle  States,  the  rapid  growth  of  plants  gives  them 
such  a  weak  vitality  that  the  lirst  breath  of  frost  lays  them 
low ;  and  a  frost  may  occur  at  any  time  during  the  summer. 
A  snow  storm  in  August  is  not  unusual. 

I  have  seen  lettuce  raised  in  excellent  condition  along 
the  Yukon,  but  as  the  seeds  will  not  ripen  and  few  importa- 
tions are  made,  such  a  luxury  is  scarce.  Cabbages  will 
thrive  mightily,  producing  enormous  leaves,  but,  alas,  they 
never  form  heads.  Russian  turnips,  however,  seem  to  be 
just  suited  to  the  short  and  vigorous  summer  season.  They 
Avill  grow  to  average  five  pounds  in  weight.  Radishes  will 
flourish  to  a  certain  degree,  but  potatoes  are  about  as  un- 
suited  to  the  soil  and  climate  as  Florida  oranges  are  to 
the  Xorthem  States.  The  tubei*s  attain  such  small  size 
that  it  takes  many  to  make  a  meal,  and  even  then  much 
work  must  be  expended  in  protecting  the  vines  from  the 
early  frosts. 

Evenings  when  the  sky  was  clear  and  frost  was  threat- 
ened, I  have  seen  those  who  were  tiwing  to  raise  a  "  little 
garden  stuff  "  go  out  and  carefully  suspend  blankets  or 
heavy  ticking  over  the  vines  and  plants.  It  would  protect 
them  somewhat,  but  would  never  save  them  entirely.  Even 
success  to  this  degree  is  possible  only  along  the  river  bot- 
toms; nothing  can  be  done  back  in  the  hills,  where  the  in- 
dustrious mind's  must  spend  their  time.  And  when  a 
woman  can  get  a  dollar  a  loaf  for  her  bread,  and  a  miner 
can  get  ten  dollars  or  more  a  day  in  the  hills,  there  will  be 
little  fooling  away  of  the  summer  season  in  nursing  garden 
stuff. 

But  Alaska  has  some  products  of  her  ow^l  which  may 
vary  the  epicure's  diet  in  the  summer.     Every  third  bush 


DELICIOUS  BERRIES  191 

is  a  beiTj  busli,  which  produces  white  and  purple  flowers, 
and  then  berries,  of  the  richest  hues.  The  berries  ripen 
in  two  months  after  the  first  leaves  appear.  Cranberries 
from  Alaska  have  been  considered  desirable  delicacies  in 
the  San  Fraiicisco  markets  for  many  years;  they  are  brought 
down  by  the  steamers  in  crates  and  boxes  at  a  season  of  the 
year  when  cranberries  are  not  in  market  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  They  are  small,  wild  berries,  not  much  larger  than 
peas;  but  they  are  deliciously  flavored  and  highly  prized  in 
their  native  country.  The  Indians  and  new  settlers  eat 
them  freely  in  summer,  and  make  jellies  and  preserves  for 
winter  use.  Blackberries  and  huckleberries  are  as  abun- 
dant in  a  large  part  of  the  country  as  on  Long  Island  or  the 
mountains  of  Georgia  and  Carolina.  Nearly  all  of  our 
common  berries  are  found  in  parts  of  Alaska  —  red  and 
black  currants,  wild  strawberries,  raspberries,  gooseberries, 
and  dewberries,  and  many  others  that  are  indigenous  only 
to  Alaska,  such  as  the  roseberries,  mossberries,  bearberries, 
and  salmonberries.  All  of  these  are  eaten  fresh  by  the  na- 
tives, and  preserved  by  crushing  and  dryiug  them.  On 
the  coast  of  the  mainland  and  on  the  islands  the  inevitable 
oil  of  Arctic  regions  is  utilized  even  in  preparing  the  berries 
for  eating.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  the  natives  greedily 
eating  a  dish  of  crushed  strawberries  or  blueberries,  mixed 
with  sugar  and  seal-oil  —  a  combination  that  is  sufficient  to 
nauseflte  most  Americans. 

The  agricultural  possibilities  of  this  region  of  long 
winters  and  short  summers  have  recently  been  painted  in 
hues  which  my  obsen^ation  there  inclines  me  to  think  are 
much  too  rosy.  The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  has  made 
a  prediction  that  before  many  years  Alaska's  grain  and 
food  products  will  more  than  equal  in  value  all  the  gold 
12 


192  AGRICULTURAL   POSSIBILITIES 

which  is  now  supposed  to  be  hidden  beneath  the  surface. 
He  says: 

"  The  soil  of  Southern  Alaska,  along  the  coast,  is  rich 
and  best  suited  for  barley  and  oats.  Fish  will  be  an  im- 
portant feature  of  the  Alaskan's  diet,  and  thus  the  race 
will  become  a  seafaring  one,  well  suited  for  the  United 
States  navy.  If  we  send  to  the  peojile  now  living  there 
commissioners  who  oan  teach  them  in  a  j^ractical  man- 
ner how  to  raise  these  and  other  foods  profitably,  I  believe 
the  country  will  develop  rapidly.  Grass  is  abundant,  and 
can  be  easily  cultivated  further,  and  by  a  special  process 
we  can  teach  the  Alaskans  how  to  make  hay  even  in  the 
worst  kind  of  Alaskan  climate,  where  it  rains  a  little  every 
day.  "We  would  introduce  whatever  vegetables  could  be 
successfully  cultivated,  and  make  the  best  of  the  soil,  now 
so  rich  already. 

"  The  winters  need  not  be  especially  hard,  for  food  will 
be  abundant  in  the  summer,  and  can  be  easily  stored  away 
for  winter  consumption.  In  barley  alone  a  tremendous 
traffic  could  be  built.  More  than  enough  barley  to  feed  a 
greater  population  than  is  probable  in  a  number  of  years 
to  come  can  be  successfully  raised,  and  that  is  grain  for 
which  there  is  a  constant  market.  I  repeat,  Alaska's  agri- 
cultural possibilities  will  yield  her  more  money  than  will 
ever  be  taken  out  of  her  gold  mines." 

The  realization  of  a  dream  like  this  would  be  a  great 
thing  for  Alaska,  but  it  is  largely  a  region  of  icy  mountains. 
Comparatively  speaking,  the  flats  near  the  rivers  are  of  ex- 
ceedingly limited  area,  and  many  of  these  are  less  attractive 
than  they  look.  There  are  great  stretches  of  tundra  cov- 
ered with  clumps  of  grass  which  have  sprung  up  sometimes 
on  fields  of  solid  ice.  White  people  here  call  these  grassy 
inventions  of  human  torture  '^  niogerheads,"  but  the  tenn 


"niggerhead"  swamps  193 

is  weak.  It  is  not  half  bad  enoiigli.  Call  them  the  vilest 
thing  you  can  think  of.  Why  is  it  necessary  for  Madam 
xs  atiire  to  utilize  every  wretched  spot  of  the  earth's  surface  ? 
Here,  for  instance,  was  once  a  pond  of  water,  and  that  be- 
came frozen;  then  a  root  of  some  kind  crawled  from  the 
margin  out  on  to  the  ice,  and  the  wind  carried  dust  from 
the  hills  and  bits  of  decaying  moss  from  the  trees,  and  small 
leaves  to  this  venturesome  root.  The  little  rootlet  thrives 
under  this  covering,  and  soon  a  little  mound  is  begun,  and 
some  seeds  are  blown  along,  and  lodge  in  this  little  mound, 
and  they  sprout  and  grow  a  little  the  first  year;  the  dead 
shoots  catch  more  decayed  or  decaying  stuff,  and  the  mound 
grows  higher  and  more  seeds  are  lodged  upon  it,  and  more 
grass  grows,  and  perhaps  a  weed,  and  thus  each  year  adds 
to  the  height  of  the  mound.  And  it  widens  only  so  far. 
When  it  has  attained  about  a  foot  of  breadth  the  heat  of 
the  sun  can  no  longer  penetrate  to  the  center  of  the  mound 
and  it  ceases  its  lateral  growth,  but  grows  higher,  and  the 
grass  grows  stronger  because  the  sun's  heat  can  warm  all 
sides  of  the  cylindrical  mound. 

From  all  along  the  margin  these  mounds  have  started 
and  grown,  and  from  these  other  mounds  have  started  and 
grown,  but  the  ice  foundation  is  always  there,  and  in  time 
the  pond  is  covered  with  these  mounds  a  foot  or  less  in  diam- 
eter and  usually  more  than  a  foot  in  height,  and  the  long 
grass  stands  up  in  summer,  looking  like  a  meadoAV.  It  has 
a  distinctly  agricultural  look  from  a  distance.  One  might 
think  that  a  thousand  cattle  could  be  fattened  on  this  level 
meadow  in  a  summer. 

In  winter  this  grass  falls  and  tangles  one's  feet,  and 
when  you  want  to  walk  through  one  of  these  flats  you  must 
step  over  these  mounds  and  place  your  foot  between  them. 


194  SCARCITY   OF  TIMBER 

and  you  sink  in  the  ooze  that  has  collected  there,  until  your 
foot  touches  the  ice,  and  if  you  have  far  to  go  you  become 
very  tired,  and  if  a  foot  slips  or  you  stagger  from  any  cause, 
down  you  go.  Sometimes  you  think  you  can  walk  on  the 
tops  of  these  mounds,  but  you  cannot.  They  sway  under 
you  and  down  you  go  on  your  knees  in  the  mud  between 
them.  In  time  you  quit  trying  to  do  so,  and  stick  to  the 
trail,  if  there  be  one,  no  matter  how  deep  the  water  and 
ooze  may  be. 

The  result  is  that  the  miners  and  other  residents  of  that 
country  keep  as  far  away  from  a  niggerhead  swamp  as  they 
conveniently  can,  avoiding  it  as  they  would  the  plague. 

For  the  rest  of  the  country,  the  surface  is  covered  by 
from  one  foot  to  two  of  moss,  and,  underneath,  the  ever- 
lasting frost.  On  this  a  scrubby  growth  of  trees  is  found, 
extending  up  the  mountain  side  to  an  altitude  of  from  one 
thousand  to  one  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  river. 
It  is  this  which  appears  to  those  passing  down  the  river  in 
boats  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  good  timber  seen  along  the 
banks.      Timber  that  is  fit  for  anything  is  scarce. 

Some  of  the  islands  of  the  Yukon  have  a  very  rich  soil, 
but  they  are  locked  in  ice  usually  from  October  to  June,  and. 
owing  to  the  swiftness  of  the  current,  Yukon  ice  is  not  apt 
to  make  good  skating.  T  once  heard  a  woman  describe  it  as 
an  ice  house  blown  up  by  dynamite.  There  may  be  through- 
out all  Alaska  room  for  a  thousand  farms,  but  the  Indians 
would  be  altogether  too  lazy  to  work  them  —  they  would 
die  first  —  and  a  white  man  who  would  begin  fanning  there 
when  gold  could  be  shaken  out  of  the  sand-bars  all  along  the 
river  would  be  set  down  as  a  man  of  unsound  mind. 

The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  has  had  a  couple  of 
acres  in  a  favorable  spot  near  Forty  Mile  in  cultivation  for 


GRASSES  OF  THE   YUKON   VALLEY  195 

several  years.  The  have  sown  oats,  but  they  say  they  have 
never  ripened.  They  made  fair  fodder.  Good  fodder  for 
cattle  could  be  had  in  this  way  by  importing  barley  and.  oats, 
but  the  seed  would  have  to  be  brought  in  every  season,  as 
there  is  no  kernel  in  the  pod  or  shell.  Those  contemplating 
taking  horses  or  cattle  into  the  country  for  other  purposes 
than  slaughter  should  go  in  a  couple  of  years  in  advance,  get 
:i  favorable  piece  of  land,  clear  it,  and  prepare  for  the  culti- 
vation of  such  fodder  as  this.  Otherwise,  they  will  have 
to  import  all  their  fodder. 

Horses  have  been  in  use  at  Forty  Mile  for  several  years, 
but  the  owners  depend  largely  on  the  trading  companies 
for  the  food  for  their  subsistence.  Mr.  Harper  has  had 
a  few  horses  at  Selkirk  for  several  years,  the  fodder  for 
which  he  cuts  from  ponds  in  the  vicinity.  On  this  they  pull 
through  the  winter,  but  they  are  not  in  a  condition  to  do 
any  work. 

Throughout  the  Yukon  valley,  wherever  the  soil  is  rich 
and  fertile,  a  great  variety  of  grasses  grow,  and  cover  the 
land  with  heavy  mattings  of  vegetation.  They  constitute 
the  coarse  varieties,  but  many  of  the  finest  grazing  grasses 
are  seen,  such  as  the  blue  joint,  Avhich  reaches  a  height  of 
four  or  five  feet,  and  the  blue  grasses.  One  would  tliink 
that  no  better  forage  for  cattle  could  be  desired  than  what 
is  furnished  by  these  grasses  in  the  Yukon  Valley  and 
along  the  coast,  and  that,  so  far  as  food  is  concerned,  pigs, 
cattle,  sheep,  and  goats  could  live  and  grow  fat  in  the 
valleys. 

But  grasses  of  such  rank  growth  do  not  seem  to  afford 
the  proper  nourishment  for  our  domestic  animals,  even  if 
secured  in  good  condition,  and  that  is  difficult,  in  view  of 
the  frequent  rains.      Of  course,  for  the  greater  part  of  the 


196       MEANS  OF  TRANSPORTATION  NEEDED 

year  these  fields  are  buried  under  tons  of  frozen  snow,  and 
the  animals  must  be  housed.  To  care  for  them  is  not  easy 
or  inexpensive  in  such  a  climate. 

Much  more  can  be  done  for  the  opening  up  of  Alaska 
by  improving  the  means  of  transportation  so  that  the  regions 
of  the  Yukon  may  be  accessible,  instead  of  inaccessible,  for  a 
greater  part  of  the  year.  With  the  Yukon  open  only  long 
enough  to  enable  a  steamer  to  make  two  round  trips  from 
its  mouth  to  the  upper  trading  posts,  and  with  the  old  Indian 
trails,  fit  only  for  Indians  and  dogs,  and  with  a  population 
which  must  import  the  greater  part  of  what  it  consumes, 
the  problem  resolves  itself  to  the  simple  proposition  of  trans- 
portation. Alaska  cannot  be  successfully  developed  so  long 
as  tough  moose  hams  will  fetch  forty  dollars  apiece  in  the 
winter. 

While,  therefore,  the  high  rate  of  wages  prevailing  at 
Circle  City  might  make  Alaska  seem  to  those  who  have 
never  been  in  it  like  a  great  country  for  a  poor  man,  it  had 
always  been  a  poor  country  up  to  the  summer  of  1896. 
There  were  plenty  of  old  miners  about  there  who  had  been 
on  the  Yukon  for  years  and  had  l)arely  made  more  than 
their  "  grub."  When  one  is  making  money  rapidly  the 
temptation  always  is  to  spend  it  with  a  lavish  hand.  But 
even  if  one  lives  economically,  he  needs  to  strike  a  rich  vein 
of  gold  in  order  to  acquire  wealth.  I  could  see  that  if  Joe 
and  I  were  so  fortunate  as  to  get  together  two  thousand 
dollars  by  working  at  high  wages  during  the  short  summer, 
it  would  be  scarcely  enough  to  pay  for  taking  a  winter's 
outfit  to  the  mines  and  putting  up  a  poor  shelter  there,  for 
provisions  become  several  times  more  valuable  by  the  time 
they  are  hauled  over  the  rono-b  trails  to  the  mines. 

The  list  of  prices  already  quoted  in  this  chapter  were 


THE  FATHER  OF  THE  COUNTRY         197 

reasonable  enough  for  Circle  City  at  that  time,  and  their 
apparently  high  cost  was  not  due  to  scarcity,  but  to  the  value 
of  articles  after  they  have  been  carried  over  four  thousand 
miles,  a  third  of  the  way  against  a  swift  river  current. 
There  was  a  fair  competition  among  the  stores,  and  at  the 
head  of  one  of  them  was  Jack  McQuesten,  an  old  pioneer 
in  the  country.  He  has  been  in  Alaska  for  over  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  and  was  really  "  the  father  of  the  country."  He 
had  come  in  contact  with  nearly  all  the  men  who  had  risked 
their  lives  in  the  search  for  gold  in  its  frozen  soil,  aiid  had 
ever  been  their  friend.  It  has  been  said  that  he  has  out- 
fitted, supported,  and  grub-staked  more  men,  and  kept  them 
through  the  long  winters  when  they  were  down  on  their 
luck,  than  any  other  person  on  the  Yukon.  Hundreds  of 
men  now  on  the  river  owe  all  the  success  they  have  to  his 
help,  and  they  know  it  and  appreciate  it. 

It  was  a  great  night  at  Circle  City  when  he  v/as  pre- 
sented with  a  gold  watch  and  chain,  bearing  the  insignia  of 
the  Order  of  Yukon  Pioneers.  It  was  said  that  the  watch 
cost  five  hundred  dollars,  but  McQuesten's  bill  for  enter- 
tainment was  probably  much  more  than  that,  for  there  was 
no  half-way  business  about  his  generosity,  and  the  boys 
needed  no  gold  dust  when  they  stepped  up  to  the  bar. 

The  Order  of  Yukon  Pioneers  was  started  in  1890,  and 
was  composed  only  of  the  men  who  had  been  in  the  country 
since  1887.  It  had  a  very  limited  membership,  therefore, 
till  the  rules  were  changed  so  as  to  make  men  eligible  who 
had  been  in  the  country  before  1893.  They  have  a  lodge 
at  Circle  City  and  hold  meetings  every  Tuesday  night.  It 
levies  on  its  members  for  the  care  of  the  sick,  for  the  relief 
of  widows,  and  the  sendiuc  out  of  the  countr\^  of  those  who 
had  been  broken  down  by  hard  work  and  privations.     It  is 


198  A   HELPFUL   INFLUENCE 

an  influence  for  good,  and  is  also  an  indication  of  what  sort 
of  a  life  these  pioneers  were  compelled  to  lead  in  a  country 
which  is  supposed  to  be  lined  with  gold. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

WE  REACH  THE  GOLD  DIGGINGS  — LOCATING  A  CLAIM  — 
HOW  GOLD  IS  MINED  — THE  MINER'S  PAN,  ROCKER, 
AND  SLUICE  BOXES. 

The  Trail  up  Birch  Creek  —  Some  of  the  Gulches  —  Great  Cost  of  Wood 

—  The  Process  of  Placer  Mining  —  How  the  Prospector  Works  — 
Testing  the  Dirt  — The  Miner's  Pan  — The  Trick  of  Shaking  Out 
Gold  —  All  the  Fascination  of  Gambling  —  Nature  Holds  the  Cards 

—  Placer  Mining  Conditioned  by  the  Climate  —  The  Old  Process  of 
Sun-Thawing  —  Soil  That  Resists  Picks,  Dynamite,  and  Hydraulics 

—  Where  Fire  Burning  is  Necessary  —  Burning  at  Night  —  A  Long 
Process  —  Sinking  through  the  Muck  —  Rockers  —  Sluices  and 
How  They  are  Constructed  —  Nature  Caught  in  the  Act  —  Claims 
Regulated  by  the  Miners  Themselves  —  The  Birch  Creek  Yield  of 
Gold. 

GOLD-seekers  were  continually  going  back  and  forth 
from  Circle  Cit}^  to  the  diggings  on  the  npper 
waters  of  Birch  (Jreek,  and  in  this  way  I  occasion- 
ally heard  from  my  partner,  who  was  working  most  of  the 
time  on  other  claims  for  wages,  for  the  season  was  not  propi- 
tious for  prospecting.  This  is  easier  done  after  the  freezing 
weather  comes  on.  As  I  had  managed  to  locate  a  very  good 
cabin  in  town  for  onr  needs  while  there,  and  had  earned  a 
fair  snm  dnring  the  early  part  of  the  bnilding  rush,  I  de- 
termined to  carry  over  a  light  store  of  provisions  to  fFoe,  as 
he  wished  to  remain  on  the  creek  during  the  winter  and 
prospect  as  opportunities  offered. 

Birch  Creek  empties  into  the  Yukon  more  than  a  Imn- 

(199) 


::iOO  TRIALS   OF   THE   TRAIL 

tired  miles  below  Circle  City,  but  in  its  tortuous  course  its 
upper  waters  flow  but  six  miles  from  the  town,  though  the 
headwaters  are  back  in  the  mountains  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  miles  away.  The  short  portage  across  the  neck 
of  land  to  the  creek  is  not  difficult,  though  low  and  wet  in 
places  in  the  summer,  and  a  hotbed  of  mosquitoes.  The}^ 
were  almost  unendurable  unless  a  wind  was  blowing.  I 
have  seen  strong  men  on  the  trail  through  these  swamps 
driven  to  the  verge  of  hysterics  by  the  swarming  pests. 
The  trail  up  the  creek  leads  through  a  wild  country,  and 
by  the  time  a  winter's  supplies  have  been  dragged  over  it 
to  the  camps  the_y  are  worth  something.  If  taken  in  a  boat 
they  must  be  pulled  against  a  swift  current  and  sometimes 
up  rapids.  By  carrying  only  a  pack  I  made  fair  time  over 
the  rough  trail. 

In  an  earlier  chapter  I  have  alluded  to  the  discovery  of 
gold  in  this  region,  an  Episcopal  missionary  having  picked 
up  a  nugget  in  returning  from  the  Tanana  River  district. 
This  was  in  1891.  By  1894  the  district  had  been  pretty 
thoroughly  explored  and  bad  yielded  large  results.  The 
gold  consisted  of  coarse  flakes  and  nuggets;  forty  dollars  a 
day  was  made  by  some  men,  and  all  did  well.  The  drift 
is  not  as  deep  here  as  in  some  other  streams,  and  water  can 
be  applied  to  greater  advantage.  I  found  Joe  on  one  of 
the  farthest  of  the  most  remote  creeks,  nearly  a  hun- 
dred miles  from  Circle  City.  On  some  of  the  nearer  creeks 
I  passed  they  were  taking  out  gold  in  good  quantities,  par- 
ticularly at  Deadwood  Gulch,  a  little  stream  ten  miles  long. 
Mastodon  is  a  rich  tributary,  but  the  very  rich  claims  are 
rare.  It  was  asserted  on  one  claim  there  that  they  had 
taken  out  gold  enough  to  clear  one  thousand  dollars  a  day 
for  seven  weeks.  ■    On  Miller  Creek  there  were  claims  to  be 


THE   BIRCH   CREEK  DISTRICT  201 

had  where  a  man  coukl  easily  pan  ont  from  six  dollars  to  ten 
dollars  a  day,  but  they  were  not  worth  owning  in  such  a 
region,  for  more  can  be  made  in  wages  on  the  richer  claims. 

The  district  was  in  its  most  flourishing  condition  in  the 
summer  of  1896. '  Most  of  the  gulches  were  then  running, 
miners  were  working  on  double  shifts,  night  and  day,  which 
at  this  season  in  this  latitude  are  very  much  alike,  and  large 
profits  were  reported.  On  Mastodon  Creek,  which  seemed 
to  be  the  best  producer  and  Avhich  was  thoroughly  staked, 
over  three  hundred  miners  were  at  work.  There  was  every 
evidence  that  the  creeks  would  continue  to  pay  well  for  five 
years^  and  after  that  were  the  untold  possibilities  of 
hydraulic  mining, .  which  might  without  difficulty  except 
that  of  expense  be  introduced  by  tapping  some  of  the  creeks 
near  their  head. 

If  some  of  these  claims  which  are  discarded  as  prac- 
tically worthless  could  be  set  down  in  a  place  nearer  trans- 
portation facilities,  and  in  a  kinder  climate,  so  that  they 
could  be  worked  continuously,  they  would  yield  fortunes. 
Joe  had  proceeded  to  a  creek  where  the  ground  was  un- 
doubtedly rich,  but  it  was  an  expensive  job  to  work  it.  By 
the  time  wood  had  been  cut  by  men  receiving  twelve  dollars 
a  day,  and  hauled  a  distance  of  six  or  seven  miles  by  dogs, 
it  was  worth  about  sixty-five  dollars  a  cord.  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  a  claim  must  be  very  rich  in  order  to  pay  the 
large  expenses  of  working  it.  If  a  miner  is  paying  the  ex- 
pense of  having  his  provisions  brought  out  from  Circle 
City,  it  costs  sixty  cents  a  pound  in  summer  and  fifteen 
cents  in  winter,  the  trail  being  so  much  easier  in  the  latter 
season. 

In  order  to  well  understand  the  recent  progress  of  min- 
ing in  Alaska,  a  few  facts  as  to  placer  mining  in  general. 


X*03  ■  TLACER  MINING 

and  as  to  tlie  processes  in  the  frozen  north  in  partii-uhir,  is 
necessary.  The  process  in  Ahaska  is  peculiar,  and  the 
novice  shoukl  give  it  some  study  before  he  starts  in  to  make 
his  fortune.  It  is  the  desire  of  the  expert  prospector  to 
locate  oxev  river  gravel,  and  he  has  a  theory  that  the  short 
side  of  tlie  bends  in  the  river  will  prove  the  richest.  Free 
or  native  gold,  such  as  is  found  in  placer  mines,  is  supposed 
to  be  brought  down  in  the  course  of  ages  from  a  "  mother 
lode  "  by  the  action  of  running  water  or  glaciers.  The 
sands  and  rocks  of  river  beds,  dry  creeks,  and  gulches,  there- 
fore, are  the  places  which  secure  the  attention  of  the  ex- 
perienced prospector.  He  observes  the  characteristics  of 
the  loose  rocks  in  ravines  and  gulches,  or  in  any  place  where 
matter  is  left  after  freshets  have  subsided.  The  natural 
presumption  is  that,  if  the  bed  of  a  river  flowing  through  an 
open  country  yields  fine  gold  dust,  larger  grains  will  be 
found  in  the  nearby  hills  and  mountains  from  which  it 
flowed.  The  heavier  particles  are,  of  course,  looked  for  near 
the  probable  source.  Sometimes  gold  is  in  dust  too  fine  to  be 
readily  distinguished  by  the  naked  eye,  or  the  dirt  is  so 
combined  with  it  as  to  make  it  deceptive,  and  the  prospector 
must  proceed  with  the  greatest  care  and  skill. 

Having  secured  a  place  which  may  give  the  desired 
promising  indications,  because  of  surface -conditions,  which 
are  apt  to  be  deceptive  in  Alaska,  the  next  thing  is  to  begin 
sinking  a  shaft  to  get  down  to  bed-rock  ••  so  that  the  value  of 
the  diggings  may  be  determined.  In  a  climate  where  the 
temperature  runs  down  to  sixty  degrees  or  more  below  zero 
in  a  winter  lasting  for  nine  months  of  the  year,  Avater  in 
large  quantities  is  scarce  except  in  the  short  summer.     Snow 

*  Bed-rock.  Solid  rock  lying  under  loose  detrital  masses,  such  as  sand 
and  gravel.  Detrital  matter  consists  of  jiarticles  broken  or  worn  away  from 
the  land,  and  carried  along  by  the  streams  to  be  deposited  elsewhere. 


THE   FASCINATION   OF   PANNING  203 

may  bo  melted  for  testing,  and  there  liave  been  instances 
in  very  rich  chiims  in  Alaska  mines  where  a  miner  conld 
wash  out  in  his  cabin  enough  to  pay  his  help  for  taking  out 
the  frozen  dirt. 

Both  in  prospecting  and  in  sinking  his  shaft  the  miner 
makes  frequent  use  of  his  pan,  which  is  broad  and  shallow 
and  an  inseparable  companion.  After  clearing  off  the 
coarse  gravel  and  stone  from  a  patch  of  ground,  he  secures 
a  little  of  the  finer  gravel  or  sand  in  his  pan,  fills  it  with 
water  and  gives  it  a  few  rapid  whirls  and  shakes,  which 
brings  the  gold  to  the  bottom  of  the  pan  on  account  of  its 
greater  specific  gravity.  IMany  miners  prefer  to  sink  the 
pan  of  dirt  under  water  and  shake  it  there,  in  such  a  dex- 
terous manner  as  gradually  to  throw  the  lighter  dirt  off  into 
the  stream,  but  this  cannot  be  practiced  to  a  great  extent  in 
Alaska  unless  a  large  tub  of  water  is  used  in  the  cabin. 
Many  old  miners  believe  that  under-water  jianning  is  so 
much  better  that  they  use  such  tubs  in  winter.  An  old  and 
skilled  miner  will  sometimes  shake  out  more  gold  in  a  day 
than  a  beginner  can  in  a  week  from  the  same  quantity  of 
dirt.  I'liere  is  a  trick  about  it  that  comes  only  by  ex- 
perience, and  out  of  the  same  gravel  a  greenhorn  may  not 
get  fifty  cents'  w^orth  of  gold  where  an  experienced  man 
would  get  a  dollar.  A  good  man  can  pan  a  ton  of  gravel 
a  day,  but  it  is  hard,  back-breaking  work.  There  is  the 
fascination,  however,  of  ever  watching  the  yellow  color  as 
the  dirt  washes  away,  and  it  will  keep  a  man  at  work  till  ho 
finds  himself  exhausted.  It  is  the  same  fascination  tliat 
is  felt  by  the  confirmed  gambler,  for  every  pan  of  dirt  is  a 
gamble.  Dame  Nature  is  dealing  tliff  cards.  Will  the 
player  make  a  big  stake,  or  will  ho  lose  ?  TTaving  won  it 
from  N^ature  by  hard  work,  ho  will  very  likely  lose  some  of 


a04  ROASTING   THE  AMALGAM 

his  winnings  in  an  ordinary  gambling  game.  He  lives  in 
an  atmosphere  of  chance.     What  comes  easy,  goes  easy. 

After  the  pan  is  shaken  and  held  in  such  a  way  as  to 
gradually  wash  out  the  sand  and  gravel,  care  being  taken 
near  the  end  of  the  process  to  avoid  letting  out  the  finer  and 
heavier  particles  which  have  settled  to  the  bottom,  all  that 
will  be  left  in  the  pan  is  whatever  gold  there  may  have  been 
in  the  dirt,  mixed  with  black  sand,  which  is  nothing  but 
jndvcrized  magnetic  iron  ore.  Should  the  gold  thus  found 
be  fine,  the  contents  may  be  thrown  into  a  tub  of  water  con- 
taining a  pound  or  so  of  mercury.  The  gold  coming  in 
contact  Avitli  this  forms  an  amalgam.  When  enough  of 
this  has  been  formed  it  may  be  fired  or  roasted.  First  it  is 
squeezed  through  a  buckskin  bag  to  work  out  all  the  mer- 
cury possible,  and  what  comes  out  is  put  back  in  the  tub, 
while  the  contents  of  the  bag  is  put  in  a  retort,  or,  what  is 
more  probable  in  a  mining  camp,  is  put  on  a  shovel  and 
heated  till  the  mercury  has  evaporated.  The  gold  will  re- 
main in  a  lump,  though  with  more  or  less  mercury  com- 
bined with  it.  This  washing  process  must  be  continued 
after  the  layer  of  best  paying  dirt  is  reached,  for  in  no  other 
way  can  the  pay-streak  be  followed. 

While  this  is  a  process  characteristic  of  all  placer  min- 
ing in  Alaska,  it  is  conditioned,  like  everything  else,  by  the 
climate  and  the  soil.  When  gold  was  first  discovered  in  the 
Yukon  valley  the  great  drawback  in  successfully  operating 
the  rich  placer  mines  was  found  to  exist  in  the  auriferous 
gravel  being  frozen  into  a  solid,  compact,  adamantine  mass, 
which  the  rays  of  the  summer's  sun  could  never  melt,  and 
with  which  the  methods  usually  employed  in  washing  out 
gold  were  totally  ineffective.  There  seemed  to  be  no  end 
of  the  depth  to  which  the  frost  penetrated  the  earth's  sur- 


SUN-THAWING  205 

face,  as  the  deepest  shaft  or  prospect  hole  has  yet  to  reach 
unfrozen  gravel  except  in  certain  localities,  and  in  such 
places  no  one  has  been  able  to  account  for  the  strange 
phenomenon.  Various  ways  were  tried  by  the  miners  of 
ten  years  ago  to  expedite  the  slow  work  of  the  sun  in  thaw- 
ing out  the  congealed  mass.  Picks  were  found  to  be  of  no 
avail,  as  the  heaviest  blows  would  produce  but  little  more 
impression  than  it  would  have  done  on  a  solid  block  of 
granite.  Dynamite  was  experimented  with,  but  a  heavy 
shot  resulted  in  blowing  out  only  a  "  pot  hole,"  and  had  no 
effect  whatever  in  loosening  the  surrounding  gravel. 
Hydraulics  were  proven  equally  futile,  the  stream  from  the 
giants  serving  only  to  bore  a  hole  in  the  bank  against  which 
it  was  directed.  In  fact,  the  only  manner  by  which  the 
shallow  or  summer  diggings  could  be  worked  at  all  was  to 
strip  or  burn  off  the  heavy  coating  of  moss  covering  the 
earth,  thus  allowing  the  sun  to  reach  the  gravel  beneath. 
This  in  a  day  would  thaw  to  a  depth  of  three  or  four  inches, 
and  after  the  frozen  muck  under  the  moss  had  been  thawed 
out  and  thrown  aside,  the  sun  could  then  work  on  the  gravel. 
As  fast  as  it  thawed  it  could  be  shoveled  into  the  sluices,  and 
another  like  amount  would  be  workable  the  day  following. 
But  it  was  an  unusual  summer  season  that  would  permit  of 
more  than  ninety  days'  work  at  the  sluices,  and  claims  that 
would  not  pay  an  ounce  to  the  shovel  were  abandoned. 

Then  came  the  discovery  of  the  Birch  Creek  mines,  and 
the  problem  of  profitably  operating  the  mines  in  the  winter 
time  solved  itself  as  a  simple  matter  of  necessity.  With  the 
pay-streak  located  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet  beneath 
the  surface,  it  would  have  been  impracticable  and  almost 
impossible  to  remove  the  barren  eartli  lying  above  it. 
Prospecting  had  to  be  done  by  burning  holes  in  the  gravel. 


200  BURNING   DOWN  TO   THE   PAY-STREAK 

A  Img'e  pile  of  logs  would  be  fired  on  the  spot  where  it  was 
proposed  to  sink  and  allowed  to  burn  over  night.  In  the 
morning  a  foot  in  depth,  possibly,  would  be  found  to  have 
been  thawed  out,  and  this  was  shoveled  aside  and  a  fresh  fire 
kindled.  By  continuing  this  operation  a  number  of  days, 
the  shaft  would  finally  reach  the  pay-streak,  and  then  it  be- 
came a  comparatively  easy  matter  to  ascertain  the  probable 
worth  of  the  claim.  If  the  gravel  panned  an  ounce  or  two 
a  day,  more  fires  were  built  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  and 
"  drifting  "  was  begun  with  the  pay-streak,  the  latter  being 
followed  the  same  as  in  a  quartz  lode.  The  night  is  the 
time  employed  to  "  burn/''  the  fires  being  heaped  up  with 
logs  just  before  the  day's  work  is  finished.  These  last  all 
night,  and  by  morning,  if  the  amount  of  fuel  has  been 
properly  gauged,  nothing  remains  but  the  dying  embers 
and  hot  ashes;  the  smoke  and  gases  have  all  escaped,  and 
the  work  of  shoveling  the  loosened  gravel  begins  without 
delay.  As  the  shaft  sinks  a  windlass  is  erected  over  the 
opening,  and  as  fast  as  the  bucket  is  filled  the  contents  are 
hauled  to  the  surface  and  dumped  in  a  convenient  place  for 
washing  the  following  season. 

AVhcn  the  drift  has  reached  a  short  distance  under- 
ground the  bitterly  cold  weather  of  the  winter  has  no  terrors 
for  the  placer  miner,  and  he  prosecutes  his  work  in  com- 
parative ease  and  comfort.  As  distance  from  the  shaft  is 
gained,  a  wooden  track  is  laid  on  the  floor  of  the  tunnel,  and 
a  car  pushed  by  hand  is  employed  to  convey  the  gold-bearing- 
gravel  from  the  ever-receding  breast  of  the  drift  to  the 
primitive  hoisting  works. 

"Wlio  it  was  who  first  concei^'ed  the  idea  of  drifting 
under  the  muck  banks  and  thawing  the  frozen  gravel  by 
means  of  log  fires  would  be  difficult  to  determine,  but  who- 


A   FORTUNE   IN   THE   DUMP  209 

ever  lie  may  be,  lie  deserves  a  monument  as  a  perpetuation  of 
his  memory.  The  ability  to  mine  in  the  winter  has  length- 
ened the  mining  season  from  three  to  eight  or  nine  mouths. 
As  soon  in  the  fall  as  it  becomes  cold  enough  to  freeze  the 
water  and  prevent  the  shaft  from  filling  up,  tben  the  winter 
miner  begins  his  labors  only  to  cease  in  the  spring  when  the 
water  begins  running  again.  During  the  cold  weather  he 
has  hoisted  the  muck  to  the  surface,  and  there  lies  on  his 
dump  many  tons  of  gravel  wherein  may  be  a  small-sized 
fortune  as  a  compensation  for  his  work  of  the  winter.  Ex- 
posed to  the  sun,  the  gravel  quickly  thaws,  for  it  has  frozen 
again  after  being  cast  upon  the  dump,  and  then  it  is  shoveled 
into  the  sluices,  and  the  glittering  yellow  grains  of  gold  are 
caught  by  the  riffles,  finally  finding  a  resting-place  in  the 
Inickskin  sack  of  him  who  has  toiled  so  unremittingly  to 
wrest  them  from  their  gravelly  bed.  Placer  mining  in  such 
a  country,  therefore,  is  a  long  process,  involving  much  hard 
work  under  very  uncomfortable  conditions,  and  a  great 
consumption  of  fire  wood,  which  in  most  places  is  very  ex- 
pensive.    This  was  particularly  the  case  on  Birch  Creek. 

Six,  eight,  ten,  and  twelve  feet  of  the  surface  is  decayed 
vegetable  matter  and  alluvial  deposit  of  sand  in  the  clay, 
termed  by  the  miners  "  muck."  As  soon  as  gravel  is  struck, 
prospecting  is  commenced ;  that  is,  a  pan  or  two  of  the  dirt  is 
washed  to  determine  whether  it  is  worth  "  keeping  "  or  not, 
as  the  refuse  is  thrown  on  one  side  of  the  hole  and  the  pay- 
dirt  on  the  other.  ISTcar  to  and  on  bed-rock  the  "  pay  "  is 
found,  which  is  generally  not  more  than  two  or  three  feet 
thick.  * 

All  the  way  through  the  so-called  muck  which  lies  on 
the  surface  are  found  trees  lying  in  every  direction,  and 
they  appear  to  be  similar  to  those  growing  on  the  hills  to- 
13 


210  FURTHER   DIFFICULTIES 

day,  but  these  logs  and  roots  have  evidentl}^  been  deposited 
there  a  long  time.  "While  bones  of  animals  now  common  in 
Alaska  are  found  in  it,  there  have  been  found  at  the  same 
depth  bones  of  other  animals  belonging  to  much  lower  lati- 
tudes to-day.  Well  preserved  horns  of  buffaloes  have  been 
found.  Occasionally,  in  a  part  of  frozen  pay-streak  nearly 
twenty  feet  under  the  surface,  bits  of  bones  will  be  found 
with  parts  of  the  flesh  still  clinging,  but  they  quickly 
crumble  when  exposed  to  the  air. 

It  must  not  be  thought,  however,  that  the  difficulties  of 
the  Alaskan  gold-seeker  are  all  overcome  by  simply  sinking 
a  hole  through  several  feet  of  frozen  earth  by  the  process 
above  indicated.  The  time  it  takes  to  sink  a  hole  is  meas- 
ured by  its  depth,  as  fires  tliaw  on  an  average  about  a  foot 
a  day.  But  should  a  hole  be  sunk  in  a  claim  without  find- 
ing a  good  pay-streak,  the  process  must  be  repeated  in  an- 
other locality.  One  claim-holder  may  locate  at  the  very 
first  hole,  while  another,  on  perhaps  as  good  a  claim,  may 
have  to  sink  a  dozen  or  more,  bearing  in  mind  that  his  liv- 
ing expenses  are  all  this  time  enormous,  and,  if  he  is  hiring 
men  at  twelve  dollars  or  more  a  day,  his  profits  are  by  no 
means  measured  b}^  the  amount  of  gold  he  takes  out  in  a 
season. 

After  the  pay-streak,  which  is  seldom  more  than  three 
feet  in  thickness,  is  struck,  the  fire  must  be  continued  on  the 
side  of  the  shaft  showing  the  best  indications.  This  is  also 
a  slow  process,  only  a  few  inches  being  thawed  out  in  a  day. 
This  process  is  continued  in  the  direction  of  the  best  pay,  a 
distance  which  is  governed  by  the  thickness  of  the  crust  on 
top.  If  tins  is  twenty  feet,  you  may  drift  thirty  feet  with 
safety,  wdien  a  new  hole  or  shaft  has  to  be  sunk  and  the  drift- 
ing continued.  In  this  way  the  pay-streak  is  taken  from 
■underneath  the  surface  in  the  winter  until  the  water  begins 


THE  ROCKER  211 

running  in  the  spring,  finds  its  way  into  tlie  shafts,  and 
hinders  operations  to  snch  an  extent  that  they  are  closed. 
Preparations  for  the  erection  of  dams  are  then  made  and 
sluice  boxes  procured. 

The  washing  process  was  in  full  operation  at  the  Birch 
Creek  mines  in  the  early  summer  of  1896,  when  I  made 
my  trip  through  them,  and  the  miners  were  hoarding  their 
dust  in  anticipation  of  having  a  good  time  at  Circle  City  in 
the  winter.  So  in  the  case  I  have  mentioned,  where  gold 
was  taken  out  at  the  rate  of  one  thousand  dollars  a  day  for 
seven  weeks,  it  must  be  remembered  that  these  miners  had 
done  a  great  deal  of  hard  work  before  they  had  taken  out 
any.  They  were  simply  cleaning  up  the  dirt,  they  had  so 
laboriously  and  expensively  accumulated.  After  taking  out 
their  heavy  expenses  and  what  they  squandered  at  the  sa- 
loons and  gaming  tables  of  Circle  City,  it  will  not  appear 
strange  that  many  old  miners  had  been  operating  in  this  re- 
gion for  several  years,  when  gold  was  everywhere,  and  still 
remained  comparatively  poor  men. 

In  placer  diggings  where  sluicing  may  not  be  possible, 
what  are  called  "  rockers  "  are  used  for  cleaning  up.  A 
rocker  is  simply  a  box  about  three  feet  long  and  two  feet 
wide,  the  interior  fitted  with  a  sheet-iron  division  punched 
full  of  quarter-inch  holes,  so  placed  as  to  make  the  first 
division  very  shallow.  The  lower  part  is  fitted  with  an  in- 
clined shelf  about  eight  inches  lower  at  one  end  than  at 
the  other.  Over  this  is  laid  a  heavy  woolen  blanket.  The 
whole  is  placed  on  two  rockers  much  resembling  the  rockers 
on  an  old-fashioned  cradle.  This  arrangement  is  set  up  on 
two  lengths  of  wood  convenient  to  the  water  supply.  Hav- 
ing put  some  pay-dirt,  in,  with  one  hand  the  miner  rocks  the 
cradle,  and  with  the  other  he  pours  in  water.     The  finer 


212  THE   SLUICE   BOX 

matter  with  gold  falls  through  to  the  blanket,  which  holds 
the  fine  particles  of  gold,  while  the  coarser  particles  of  dirt 
are  washed  on  and  out  of  the  box,  Avhich  usually  has  some 
mercury  on  the  thin  slats  over  which  the  refuse  runs  to 
catch  any  gold  that  may  have  escaped  the  blanket.  Of 
course,  any  large  nuggets  will  be  held  on  the  iron  division. 
At  intervals  the  blanket  is  taken  out  and  washed  in  a  barrel 
of  water  containing  mercury. 

Sluicing  is  always  employed  wherever  possible,  as  it  is 
much  more  rapid,  and,  when  well  arranged,  more 
economical.  It  requires  a  good  supply  of  water,  which  can 
usually  be  obtained  on  most  of  the  Yukon  creeks  during 
the  summer  season  from  the  little  rivulets  running  from 
the  melting  snows  and  ice  above.  But  the  construction  of 
sluices  is  generally  an  expensive  operation,  as  if  mill-sawed 
lumber  is  used  it  must  be  brought  from  a  great  distance,  and 
if  whip-sawed  lumber,  it  requires  much  labor.  In  either 
case  the  cost  is  considerable. 

A  sluice  box  is  about  ten  inches  in  width  and  twelve 
feet  in  length,  the  boxes  so  made  that  they  fit  into  each  other 
like  the  joints  of  a  telescope.  In  these  are  placed  what  are 
called  riffle  bars,  which  are  strips  of  wood  about  one  inch 
square  and  eight  or  ten  feet  long,  nailed  together  at  their 
ends  so  as  to  be  parallel  with  each  other,,  and  about  one-half 
to  three-quartos  of  an  inch  apart.  These  are  placed  longi- 
tudinally in  the  sluice  boxes,  which  are  set  up  so  as  to  have 
an  incline  of  two  or  three  inches  fall  per  foot  of  their  length. 
A  common  method  of  an-angement  is  to  place  the  slats  cross- 
wise at  suitable  intervals,  or  to  bore  shallow  holes  in  such 
order  as  to  catch  heavy  particles.  Into  this  system  of  boxes 
a  stream  of  water  is  directed,  which  must  be  of  sufficient 
volume  to  carry  with  it  the  gravel  and  dirt  that  are  in  the 
dump. 


GLACIERS  STILL  AT  WORK  213 

As  soon  as  the  sun  lias  attained  sufficient  force  to  tliaw 
out  the  surface  of  the  dump,  it  is  shoveled  into  these  sluice 
boxes.  The  water  carries  down  with  it  to  the  tailings,  as  it 
is  termed,  the  refuse  —  that  is,  the  gravel,  sand,  and  other 
matter  which  is  not  wanted.  The  gold  and  the  black  sand, 
or  pulverized  magnetic  ore,  owing  to  their  much  greater 
weight,  fall  between  the  riffle  bars  and  are  held  there. 

As  soon  as  the  riffle  bars  are  filled,  so  that  there  is  danger 
of  the  gold  passing  over  and  downward  to  the  tailings,  the 
flow  of  water  is  stopped,  and  what  is  called  the  clean-up  is 
made;  that  is,  the  riffle  bars  are  lifted  out  and  the  contents 
of  the  sluice  boxes  gathered  and  the  black  sand  and  other 
refuse  separated. 

To  one  who  has  made  a  study  of  the  gold  leads  of  the 
mountains  of  the  Pacific  coast,  the  conditions  of  the  placers 
of  Alaska  make  an  interesting  study.  Gold  leads  have  been 
associated  with  glacial  action,  and  in  Alaska  the  frozen 
placers  are  in  close  proximity  to  the  active  glaciers  grinding 
down  the  quartz-ribbed  mountains  and  depositing  the 
heavier  substances  in  the  furrows  carved  out  at  their  feet. 
jSTo  matter  how  ancient,  therefore,  the  gold  deposits  in 
Alaska,  they  are  recent  as  compared  with  those  which  till 
lately  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world.  The  frost  has 
not  had  time  to  leave  the  ground  yet.  The  glaciers  are  still 
at  work.  The  Yukon  miners  have,  as  it  were,  caught  N^ature 
in  the  act. 

Little  or  no  attention  had  been  paid  to  the  rocks  about 
Birch  Creek,  all  the  work  being  devoted  to  the  gravel 
washed  down  from  the  sides  of  the  gulches.  Miners'  laws 
governed  the  district.  In  each  gulch  prospectors  were  at 
liberty  to  stake  out  claims  not  already  taken,  the  size  of  the 
claims  being  decided  by  a  vote  of  the  miners  in  each  gulch 


2U  BIRCH   CREEK  MINES 

according  to  the  richness  of  the  graveh  When  a  prospector 
had  staked  out  his  claim,  it  was  recorded  by  one  of  the 
miners  elected  by  those  at  that  gulch,  and  that  was  suf- 
ficient to  secure  him  a  title.  Securing  a  claim  was  much 
the  easiest  part  of  it,  for  the  district  is  a  large  one,  and 
traces  of  gold  could  be  found  almost  anywhere,  but  the  dif- 
ficulty was  to  secure  one  that  would  pay  for  working  when 
owners  on  the  rich  claims  already  worked  to  some  extent 
were  offering  twelve  dollars  a  day  for  laborers  and  furnish- 
ing the  timber. 

These  Birch  Creek  mines  are  on  American  territory,  and 
only  need  economical  working  to  make  them  as  profitable  as 
any  mines  in  Uncle  Sam's  domains.  Cheaper  and  better 
transportation  facilities  are  required,  so  that  the  cost  of  pro- 
visions and  of  fuel  shall  be  much  less,  and  so  that  wages  may 
come  down.  As  it  was,  in  the  summer  in  which  I  spent  a 
short  time  there,  the  yield  was  put  down  as  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  which  was  large  considering  the  number 
of  claims  that  were  really  worked  and  the  number  of  men 
employed.  Most  of  this  sum  came  from  a  half  dozen  mines. 
Many,  under  the  existing  conditions,  could  not  be  thor- 
oughly worked,  and  many  more,  of  course,  will  not  pay 
when  the  cost  of  everything  is  so  high.  But  in  two  years 
these  mines  had  built  up  Circle  City  into  a  lively  town,  the 
second  place  in  population  in  the  whole  territory  of  Alaska. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

MY  VOYAGE  DOWN  THE  MIGHTY  YUKON  — INCIDENTS 
AND  EXPERIENCES  DURING  THE  TRIP  —  IN  THE 
SHADOW    OF   THE    ARCTIC   CIRCLE. 

Dowa  the  Yukon  River  —  Yukon  Steamers  —  Flat-Bottoms  and  Stern- 
Wheels  —  Carrying  Machine  Shops  Along  — A  Perfect  Labyrinth  of 
Water —  Going  Wherever  ItsVarying  Moods  Take  It  — Barren  Islands 

—  Fort  Yukon  —  Lazy  and  Filthy  Natives  —  Trading  for  Curios  with 
Yukon  Indians  —  Birch  and  Beaver  Creeks  —  A  Sudden  Change  — 
Out  of  the  Flatlands  into  the  Ramparts  —  Some  Good-Looking 
Creeks  —  The  Munook  —  The  Great  Tanana  River  —  Wooding  Up 

—  Indian  Settlements  —  The  Women  and  Children  —  Dogs  Galore 
— The  Inevitable  Ca^he  —  Nowikakat  —  Short  Cut  Portages  to  the 
Coast  —  Thrilling  Journey  of  a  Party  of  Miners  —  Almost  Ex- 
hausted and  Starved  —  Perils  of  Traveling  in  Alaska. 

AS  little  could  be  clone  to  advantage  in  mining  till  win- 
ter set  in,  and  as,  when  I  had  returned  to  Circle 
City,  a  favorable  opportunity  was  offered  me  to  go 
down  the  river  on  one  of  the  returning  steamers,  I  rented 
my  cabin,  for  which  there  was  demand  enough,  and  set  out, 
pleased  with  the  chance  thus  afforded  of  studying  the 
mighty  stream  and  the  possibilities  of  its  tributaries.  Such 
steamers  as  plied  on  the  river  previous  to  the  summer  of 
1897  looked  fairly  well  from  a  distance;  the  greater  the 
distance  the  better  they  looked.  They  were  of  the  stern- 
wheel,  flat-bottom  variety,  and  but  for  a  soniPwhat  pre- 
tentious smoke-stack  would  have  looked  like  small  barns 
built  on  scows.     The  rush  of  people  as  a  result  of  the  gold 

(215) 


21G  STEAMERS   ON   THE   YUKON 

discoveries  on  Birch  Creek  had  brought  two  larger  and 
somewhat  improved  vessels  up  the  river,  but  they  were  still 
of  the  stern-wheel  variety,  and  indeed  nothing  else  seems  to 
suit  the  conditions.  The  old  steamers  on  which  the 
pioneers  had  to  depend  were  usually  without  staterooms, 
except  for  the  use  of  the  officers  and  employes,  and  tempo- 
rary quarters  Avere  fitted  up  on  accompanying  barges  when 
there  was  a  rush  of  travel.  At  such  times  apartments  were 
partitioned  off  with  canvas  on  the  barges  and  fitted  up  with 
rude  bunks,  supplied  with  bedding  by  the  passenger  himself. 
These  scows  were  sometimes  harnessed  and  trussed  to  the 
front  of  the  steamer  and  pushed  ahead  in  a  clumsy  fashion. 
Two  years  ago  half  a  dozen  dirty  little  ''  wheelbarrows  " 
plied  up  and  down  the  murky  stream,  making  semi-oc- 
casional trips  to  Circle  City,  sometimes  apparently  at- 
tempting to  go  overland  in  the  effort  to  shorten  the  journey. 
They  were  good  boats,  as  boats  were  known  to  Yukoners, 
and  the  pioneers  of  that  country  were  thankful  when  the 
Circle  City  excitement  induced  the  building  of  one  or  two 
additional  steamers  of  increased  power  and  capacity. 

The  machine-shop  is  a  necessity  to  every  Yukon  River 
steamer,  for  there  are  no  repair  shops  along  the  stream,  nor 
at  either  end.  If  a  rudder  post  is  bent  or  a  shaft  broken, 
the  repairs  must  be  made  on  board  the  vessel,  and  such  re- 
pairs are  made  in  surprisingly  short  time.  The  passenger 
soon  learns  that  there  is  no  use  in  being  in  a  hurry. 

It  was  on  such  craft  as  these  that  the  Yukon  pioneer 
was  compelled  to  travel  up  and  down  the  river,  but  he  was 
duly  thankful  for  the  opportunity,  without  reference  to  the 
possibility  of  going  in  comfort.  Inured  to  the  hardship  of 
travel  on  foot  over  ice  and  snow,  any  means  of  locomotion 
other  than  his  own  legs  was  a  welcome  relief,  and  he  could 


AN  ERRATIC  RIVER  217 

wrap  his  blankets  about  him  and  lie  down  on  the  floor,  on 
the  table,  anywhere,  and  really  enjoy  life. 

Below  Circle  City  the  river  spreads  out  into  what  are 
known  as  the  Yukon  flats,  and  it  has  the  appearance  of  flow- 
ing all  over  the  country.  When  once  well  into  this  maze 
of  narrow  channels  and  bars,  one  has  little  idea  of  what  part 
of  the  river  he  is  in  or  where  the  banks  are.  There  is  noth- 
ing permanent  about  the  banks.  A  new  channel  is  liable 
to  eat  its  way  almost  anywhere,  and  the  current  is  quite  as 
fickle,  though  it  rushes  along  everywhere  between  the  flat 
islands,  which  stretch  as  far  as  the  eye  can  see  in  any  direc- 
tion. One  has  a  feeling  that  he  must  be  nearing  the  mouth 
of  the  Yukon.  It  is  a  perfect  labyrinth  of  water.  Some 
say  the  river  here  is  ten  miles  wide,  and  others  say  fifty,  and 
others  guess  anyivhere  between  those  figures.  No  one 
seems  to  know,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  any  one 
making  the  effort  to  find  out.  There  is  a  suspicion  that  the 
river  has  no  defined  main  banks,  but  just  goes  wherever  its 
varying  moods  take  it.  It  has  all  the  appearance  of  having 
given  up  trying  to  be  a  river  at  all. 

Many  of  these  islands  are  merely  wide  stretches  of  sand 
and  gravel,  some  of  them  covered  with  desolate-looking 
ridges  of  drift-wood.  On  others  tall  grass  flourishes,  but 
they  are  nothing  but  swampy  lands.  At  high  water  the 
little  steamers  could  pick  their  way  through  these  channels 
with  no  difficulty  with  an  Indian  pilot  at  the  wheel,  but  in 
low  water  the  task  is  much  more  difficult,  and  one  of  the 
amusements  of  a  trip  is  an  occasional  struggle  of  the  little 
boat  to  pull  her  nose  out  of  sand  and  try  again,  only  to 
ground  it  somewhere  else. 

But  the  current  nowhere  abates  its  swiftness,  and  it  is 
less  than  a  day's  ride  to  Fort  Yukon,  which  lies  just  above 


218  FORLORN  FORT  YUKON 

the  Arctic  Circle.  It  is  a  curious  geographical  fact  that  the 
river  here,  after  having  pursued  a  steady  course  towards  the 
northwest  for  some  seven  hundred  miles,  turns  abruptly 
to  the  southwest,  just  as  if  it  had  suddenly  changed  its  mind, 
a  thing  that  it  seems  quite  capable  of  doing  at  any  point 
along  the  flats  for  three  hundred  miles.  It  is  here  that  it  is 
joined  by  the  Porcupine,  which  comes  in  from  the  north- 
east, and  the  new  turn  the  river  takes  is  evidently  a  joint  ar- 
rangement of  the  two  currents,  the  Porcupine  having  the 
best  of  it. 

There  is  a  class  of  Indians  about  Fort  Yukon  trading  in 
curios  and  the  like,  and  its  individuals  will  do  almost  any- 
thing but  work.  While  I  stopped  there,  one  of  the  trading 
companies  was  endeavoring  to  put  up  some  log  warehouses. 
It  was  a  convenient  place  for  wintering  provisions,  for  often, 
late  in  the  season,  as  was  afterwards  more  fully  developed, 
the  steamers  find  it  impossible  to  cross  the  bars  above  the 
fort,  and  are  compelled  to  leave  their  cargo  in  log  caches 
here.  The  overseer  of  the  company  which  was  putting  up 
these  buildings  had  ordei*s  to  hire  all  the  Indians  needed  for 
help,  but  he  could  not  induce  them  to  work,  though  he 
oifered  them  fi^-e  dollars  a  day.  All  they  had  to  eat  was 
fish,  but  they  subsisted  on  this  and  took  it  easy.  They  take 
no  thought  for  the  morrow.  One  wdiite  man,  his  wife,  and 
two  children,  were  the  only  white  people  there  at  that  time. 
It  is  the  most  forlorn  of  places,  close  on  to  the  Arctic  Circle, 
and  on  the  bank  of  a  river  which,  spotted  with  dreary 
islands,  stretches  away  as  far  as  the  eye  can  see  in  nearly 
every  direction. 

For  something  over  a  hundred  miles  after  joined  by  the 
Porcupine,  the  Yukon  flows  a  little  south  to  westward,  naain- 
taining  its  character  for  uncertainty.     The  boats  keep  to  the 


THE  SCENE  OF   A  STAMPEDE  219 

channel  along  the  sonth  bank,  but  where  the  north  main 
bank  is  keeping  itself  is  purely  problematical.  Channels 
separate  and  appear  to  start  off  like  other  rivers  bound  for  a 
sea  in  some  other  parts  of  the  world,  while  others  are  com- 
ing in  at  various  places.  The  islands  gradually  become 
larger  and  make  a  somewdiat  better  appearance. 

Birch  Creek,  the  upper  waters  of  which  flow  within  a 
short  distance  of  Circle  City,  empties  into  the  Yukon  about 
forty  miles  below  the  fort,  and,  according  to  the  maps,  the 
Tadrandike  empties  on  the  opposite  bank  from  the  flat  lands 
of  the  north,  but  one  would  have  to  go  out  of  the  river's 
course  to  find  the  mouth  of  this  stream.  About  sixty  miles 
further  on  Beaver  Creek  flows  in  from  the  south.  A  little 
time  before  this  had  been  the  scene  of  a  great  stampede  of 
miners  from  the  upper  Yukon.  Gold  had  been  picked  up 
there  and  many  flocked  in,  but  the  excitement  had  proved 
to  be  without  cause,  and  the  disappointed  gold-seekers 
gradually  scattered  back  to  the  old  diggings. 

Soon  after  Fort  Hamlin  is  passed,  the  maze  of  islands  is 
left  behind.  The  mighty  river  "  gets  itself  together " 
again;  the  banks  become  higher  and  the  mountains  begin  to 
appear.  It  is  a  great  relief  after  steaming  for  nearly  four 
hundred  miles  through  a  bewildering  maze  of  water  and  flat 
islands.  The  change  is  so  great  as  to  almost  impress 
one  with  awe.  These  miles  of  dreary  flat  lands  are  sud- 
denly succeeded  by  what  are  called  the  Lower  Ramparts, 
and  the  Yukon  Rapids  sweep  between  bluffs  and  hills,  which 
rise  about  fifteen  hundred  feet.  The  river  is  not  more  than 
half  a  mile  wide,  and  seems  almost  as  much  underground 
as  one  of  the  upper  canons.  The  bed  is  of  granite,  and  the 
current  has  worn  it  away  on  both  sides  so  that  there  are  two 
good  channels. 


•i-iO  A   RIVER   OF   GREAT   POSSIBILITIES 

Some  promising  looking  streams  enter  tlie  river  along 
this  stretch  of  monntainous  banks,  but  they  are  so  common 
as  to  attract  little  attention  from  those  on  the  river  boats. 
One  of  them,  however,  was  soon  to  spring  into  importance, 
for  at  this  very  time  an  Indian  half  breed  named  Munook 
was  stmnbling  on  his  way  to  a  rich  discovery  on  one  of  its 
nppcr  tributaries,  and  in  another  year,  on  one  of  the  high 
and  more  beautiful  spots  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  was 
to  spring  up  a  lively  mining  town  called  Rampart  City. 

The  Tanana  River,  which  flows  in  from  the  picturesque 
country  to  the  south,  is  the  largest  tributary  of  the  Yukon, 
and  at  its  mouth  seems  the  larger  river.  But  it  is  from  this 
point  over  one  thousand  three  hundred  miles  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  mighty  Yukon,  and  in  its  course  it  has  flowed 
clear  around  the  Tanana,  wdiich  heads  up  directly  to  the 
territory  of  the  gold  diggings  of  Forty  Mile  and  of  Circle 
City.  The  Tanana  l)rings  down  a  vast  flood  of  water  from 
the  mountainous  regions  of  the  interior,  and  yet  it  is  only 
recently  that  a  white  man  dipped  his  paddles  in  it.  The 
late  explorations  have  shown  that  it  is  a  river  of  remarkable 
power  and  possibly  of  unnumbered  treasures.  It  is  navi- 
gable for  steamers  for  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  for  which 
distance  the  current  is  quite  slack.  Then  it  becomes  swift 
—  swifter  than  that  of  the  Yukon,  it  is  said.  All  the  way 
on  the  left  hand  are  rugged  mountains  and  the  most  siib- 
lime  scenery,  while  on  the  right  hand,  or  to  the  south,  the 
mountains  stand  at  a  distance.  Colors  of  gold  have  been 
found  in  all  of  the  many  creeks  which  empty  from  glacial 
sources  into  the  river,  but  no  one  has  yet  sunk  a  hole  tx3  bed- 
rock. Nearly  all  of  the  prospecting  that  has  been  done  has 
been  by  those  who  have  crossed  over  the  mountains  from 
Forty  Mile  or  Circle  City. 


IMPROVING   THE  NATIVES  221 

In  1896  the  junction  of  tlie  Yukon  and  Xanana  showed 
signs  of  becoming  the  important  trading  point  it  now  is. 
There  has  long  been  a  trading  station  there  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  C-ompanj,  and  now  the  settlement  of  Weare 
holds  an  important  point  at  the  very  junction.  Geographic- 
ally, this  is  about  the  center  of  the  great  territory,  though  it 
is  over  eight  hundred  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  the  old 
capital  of  Sitka.  A  short  distance  below,  St.  James  Mis- 
sion, attached  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  has  for  some  years 
been  successfully  maintained,  and  the  changes  which  have 
been  wrought  upon  some  of  the  native  children  are  certainly 
noticeable.  As  a  general  thing  the  Indians  which  are  en- 
countered along  the  Yukon  River  are  no  improvement  over 
those  farther  up.  Though  they  are  classed  under  diiferent 
tribes  they  appear  quite  similar  until  we  reach  the  point 
where  the  true  Eskimo  makes  his  appearance.  They  have 
some  good  qualities  and  are  exceedingly  useful  in  the  trade 
of  the  lower  Yukon. 

Along  the  banks  of  the  various  places  are  wooding  sta- 
tions, where  the  Indians  cut  up  timber  for  firewood  for  the 
steamers,  which,  however,  are  compelled  to  stop  much  more 
frequently  in  facing  the  swift  current  up  than  on  the  down- 
ward passage.  The  appearance  of  a  Yukon  steamer  is  a 
great  event  at  these  remote  settlements,  and  the  whole 
population  within  reach  of  the  sound  of  the  whistle  flock 
down  to  the  banks.  If  wood  is  needed,  a  line  of  Indians, 
carrying  the  sticks  in  the  primitive  way,  file  over  the  gang- 
plank and  scamper  out  again,  and  for  such  services  they  are 
paid  fair  wages,  but  their  disposition  is  to  trade.  They  take 
various  articles,  and  many  prefer  to  take  it  out  iu  something 
to  drink.  One  thing  they  never  take  is  soap,  and  yet  that  is 
what  they  most  appear  to  need, 


222  THE  INDISPENSABLE   CACHE 

Tliese  settlements  are  for  the  most  part  all  alike.  They 
are  thickest  about  places  where  the  companies  keep  their 
stores,  and  these  become  the  trading  centers.  The  natives 
live  in  huts  and  tents,  and  there  is  the  inevitable  crowd  of 
dogs,  which,  upon  the  advent  of  a  steamer,  line  the  bank 
and  howl.  It  is  the  most  dismal  din  imaginable.  Along 
the  banks  also  will  be  seen  in  season  big  salmon  hanging 
from  long  poles  drying  in  the  sun.  The  children  are  not 
quite  as  thick  as  the  dogs  (nothing  is  in  Alaska,  except  the 
mosquitoes),  but  they  toddle  about  in  their  dirty  garments 
as  if  life  were  something  of  a  delight.  The  women  come 
dowm  the  bank  canwing  queer  baskets  of  trinkets,  mostly  of 
their  handiwork,  which  gives  evidence  of  an  enormous 
amount  of  patience  and  skill  in  the  use  of  crude  materials  — 
baskets  of  unique  shape  woven  very  fine  from  some  of  the 
long  grass  of  the  valley,  and  dyed  in  the  most  striking  colors, 
moccasins  of  rare  quality,  and  so  on. 

Wherever  there  are  settlements,  and  where  there  are 
none,  for  that  matter,  the  cache  appears.  These  curious 
log  boxes  on  stilts  are  sprinkled  all  over  Alaska,  for  dogs 
are  everywhere  and  the  cache  is  an  absolute  necessity. 
They  must  be  made  to  hold  whatever  is  fit  to  eat,  and  a 
good  deal  that  is  unfit,  for  the  dog  will  eat  both.  The  cache 
is  the  lock  and  key  of  Alaska.  And  the  only  thief  is  this 
little  animal,  which  will  in  harness  haul  his  master  for  miles 
over  the  Arctic  country,  and  then  go  to  sleep  in  a  snow 
bank. 

One  of  the  important  stations  which  we  come  to  in  pass- 
ing down  this  part  of  the  river  is  Xowikakat,  about  seventy 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Tanana.  It  is  situated  on  the 
north  bank  and  upon  a  fine  bay,  which  is  connected  by  a  nar- 
row entrance  with  the  Yukon.     In  passing  it  is  easy  to 


ATTRACTIVE   TO   PROSPECTORS  223 

judge  of  the  nature  of  the  soil  from  the  crumbling  banks. 
Layers  of  sand  show  the  deposits  of  annual  inundations.  In 
many  places  where  the  bank  has  been  undermined  these 
layers  may  be  counted  by  the  hundred,  and  all  the  way  great 
masses  of  dirt  from  the  banks  are  hurried  off  by  the  swift 
current  to  the  sea. 

When  the  river  has  flowed  on  in  its  westward  course  to 
w^ithin  about  eighty  miles  of  the  sea,  it  takes  another  sudden 
turn  and  proceeds  southward,  for  two  hundred  miles, 
parallel  with  the  coast.  This  turn  is  made  where  the 
Koyukuk  enters  from  the  north,  and,  as  above  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Porcupine,  the  river  dodges  off  in  another  direc- 
tion like  one  billiard  ball  hit  by  another.  The  Koyukuk  has 
been  well  explored,  but  not  very  thoroughly  prospected. 
Gold  has  been  found  in  large  quantities  on  it,  and  as  much 
as  a  hundred  dollars  a  day  has  been  made  on  some  of  its  bars 
by  the  use  of  a  rocker.  But  little  or  nothing  has  been  done 
on  its  important  creeks,  though  the  presence  of  coarse  gold 
in  the  bars  would  imply  unusual  richness  somewhere 
further  up.  The  river  at  its  mouth  is  shallow,  and  for  some 
distance  up  has  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Yukon 
and  Tanana.  About  a  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  the 
mountains  begin  to  hem  in  the  banks,  but  it  can  be  navi- 
gated for  nearly  five  hundred  miles.  This  accessibility 
should  make  it  attractive  to  prospectors,  for  the  headwaters 
lie  in  the  same  belt  of  mountains  that  hold  the  gold-bearing 
creeks  of  the  upper  Yukon.  The  worst  thing  against  it  is 
that  so  much  of  it  lies  above  the  Arctic  circle. 

The  Yukon,  after  its  union  with  the  Koyukuk,  flows 
with  a  still  swifter  cui-rent  along  stretches  of  uninviting 
country,  among  marshy  islands  and  sloughs,  and  at  one  place 
is  only  about  fifty  miles  from  the  sea.     Two  trails  or  port- 


224  A    HAZARDOUS    TRIP 

ages  from  the  river  to  St.  Michael  or  T^nahaklik  have  been  in 
use  for  some  time  by  the  Indians  and  missionaries,  but 
either  is  a  hard  road  to  travel,  especially  in  the  summer, 
and  dangerous  after  the  winter  sets  in.  Winter,  however, 
is  the  time  when  it  becomes  useful  as  a  short  cut  from  the  in- 
terior after  the  river  has  frozen  at  its  mouth.  A  party 
of  miners  once  tried  to  reach  St.  Michael  over  this  route  and 
had  an  exceedingly  hazardous  trip.  It  teaches  the  lesson 
that  traveling  in  Alaska  is  perilous  unless  amply  provided 
for.  They  had  only  a  few  blankets  and  barely  enough  pro- 
visions for  the  trip.  They  walked  over  the  frozen  sloughs 
with  the  ice  cracking  under  them  at  e\'ery  step.  Sometimes 
they  had  to  lie  flat  on  their  stomachs  and  creep  along,  push- 
ing their  blankets  ahead  of  them,  in  order  to  keep  the  ice 
from  giving  way  under  their  weight.  They  knew  that  if 
any  one  went  through  that  would  be  the  end  of  him.  There 
would  be  no  possibility  of  getting  him  out.  One  of  them 
gave  out  the  first  day,  and  they  divided  his  load  among  the 
others  and  helped  him  along  as  best  they  could. 

The  first  night  they  slept  in  an  abandoned  Eskimo  win- 
ter house  that  was  full  of  mice  and  vermin.  That  is,  they 
stayed  in  it,  but  slept  little,  because  the  moment  they 
dropped  ofF  the  mice  began  nibbling  at  their  noses  and  run- 
ning down  their  necks.  The  next  night  they  stayed  in  one 
of  the  inhabited  Eskimo  houses,  and  it  was  a  million  times 
worse  than  the  other.  There  were  seventeen  of  them 
crowded  with  ten  Eskimos  into  an  underground  hut,  without 
a  breath  of  fresh  air,  and  with  all  the  bad  smells  imaginable 
reeking  off  the  filthy  Indians.  They  gagged  and  stifled  and 
suffocated  all  night  long,  and  the  next  night  they  took  to 
the  open.  It  was  storming,  and  bitter,  bitter  cold.  Five 
of  them  had  onlv  four  blankets  between  them,  and  thev 


PRIVATION   AND    SUFFERING  225 

were  so  near  freezing  that  they  were  afraid  to  sleep.  Tliey 
stumbled  and  crept  along,  uncertain  whether  or  not  they 
were  even  going  in  the  right  direction.  On  the  second  day 
after  the  first  night  they  slept  out  another  man  broke 
down.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  courage,  but  so  utterly  spent 
and  ill  that  they  could  scarcely  get  him  along.  He  would 
stumble  and  fall  in  his  tracks,  and  before  they  could  reach 
him  he  would  be  asleep  from  exhaustion.  Much  of  the 
time  that  day  they  had  to  carry  him  in  their  arms.  Nearly 
all  day  there  was  an  awful  storm  of  howling  wind  and  snow 
and  rain,  and  all  were  wet  to  the  skin.  But  the^  kept  right 
on  as  rapidly  as  they  could  make  their  way  across  the  tundra, 
and  when  night  came  crawled  into  the  shelter  of  a  lake  bank 
and  made  a  fire.  They  had  run  out  of  provisions  and  had 
left  only  a  flapjack  and  a  sliver  of  bacon  for  each.  They 
put  the  sickest  man  into  the  middle  of  the  group  and  all 
huddled  around  him,  trying  to  keep  him  warm  through  the 
night. 

It  was  a  sorry-looking  crowd  that  left  that  camp  the 
next  morning.  They  knew  not  where  they  were,  or  if  they 
were  going  in  the  right  direction,  or  how  soon  they  might 
have  to  lie  down  and  die  of  exhaustion  and  starvation.  But 
they  drew  up  their  belts,  set  their  teeth,  took  the  sick  man 
on  their  shoulders,  and  started  on.  The  weather  was  not 
quite  so  cold  as  it  had  been.  It  was  warm  enough  to  rain, 
and  the  water  was  just  pouring  out  of  the  sky.  At  last  they 
reached  the  top  of  the  first  hill  and  saw  St.  ]\richael  l)clow 
them.  They  were  six  days  traveling  that  one  hundred  and 
ten  miles. 

The  portage  from  N"ulato  leads  to  Unalaklik  and  is  the 
least  difficulty,  but  neither  of  these  trails  offers  any  advan- 
tages except  as  a  short  cut  to  the  base  of  supplies.  At  this 
14 


226  A  HARD   COUNTRY   TO   LEAVE 

point  the  river  flows  within  about  fifty  miles  from  the  sea 
and  not  much  further  than  that  from  St.  Michael,  but  it  is 
about  six  hundred  miles  to  that  port  by  way  of  the  river, 

Alaska  is  a  difficult  country  to  get  into,  and  equally  dif- 
ficult to  get  out  of.  The  erratic  Yukon  has  all  the  appear- 
ances of  having  met  the  latter  difficulty.  During  its  long 
course  it  runs  tow^ards  every  point  in  the  compass,  and  in 
some  places  seems  to  be  running  in  all  directions  at  once. 


CHAPTEE  XV 

STILL  JOURNEYING  ALONG  THE  DREARY  RIVER  — SIGHTS 
AND  SCENES  ON  THE  WAY  — HABITS  AND  PECULIAR- 
ITIES OF  THE  INDIANS. 

Holy  Cross  Mission  —  Soap  at  Last  Has  Legal-Tender  Value  —  Some 
Domestic  Scenes  —  Close  Race  with  the  Climate  —  The  Sisters  of 
St.  Anne  —  Mass  in  a  Log  Church  —  The  Untutored  Innuits  — 
Their  Unpleasant  Environment  —  Queer  Heirlooms  —  Geese  aud 
Ducks  Find  a  Favorable  Abode  —  The  Trip  to  the  Coast  —  St. 
Michael  —  Why  Ocean  Steamers  have  to  Anchor  a  Mile  and  a  Half 
Out  —  Alaska  Commercial  Company  —  Fort  Get-There  —  A  Lone 
Government  Official  —  The  Question  of  Transferring  Cargoes  — 
Characteristics  of  the  Natives  —  Watching  a  Chance  to  Reach  the 
Yukon's  Mouth  —  Difficulties  of  Getting  in  with  a  Load  —  Breast- 
ing the  Swift  Current  —  A  Hard  Nut  to  Crack  —  Returning  up 
the  River. 

AS  we  proceeded  down  the  river  towards  Anvik,  the 
high  ground  ceased  to  come  down  to  the  water's 
edge,  and  the  flat  lands  began  to  reappear,  though 
the  horizon  is  met  by  low  hills  some  distance  away.  At 
some  points  rise  lofty  clay  cliffs,  made  np  of  various  colors. 
Spruce  and  fir  trees,  poplars  and  willows,  are  sprinkled 
along,  but  they  do  not  extend  back  far  into  the  country, 
which  rapidly  becomes  more  and  more  marshy  and  dreary. 
While  stopping  at  Anvik,  our  attention  was  divided  be- 
tween the  strange  old  trading  station,  with  its  storehouses 
on  stilts,  and  the  ancient  Russian  mission,  with  its  silver 

candelabra,  luminous  wall  paintings,  and  sacred  relics. 

(327) 


228  WOMEN   AND   FLOWERS 

Much  more  progress  seems  to  have  been  made  mth  the 
natives  at  the  Holy  Cross  Mission,  a  short  distance  further 
down,  though  I  think  they  must  be  a  better  class  naturally. 
Here  a  cake  of  soap  seems  to  have  considerable  legal-tender 
value,  and  some  of  the  children  are  attractively  clad  in  the 
garments  of  civilization,  and  wear  clean  faces,  as  well  as 
the  inevitable  Jnnuit  smile.  The  buildings  of  the  Holy 
Cross  Mission  are  well  constructed,  and  include  a  church, 
two  schools  —  one  for  boys,  another  for  girls;  a  convent, 
and  the  necessary  outbuildings  for  a  well-ordered  farm. 
Large  cultivated  fields  adjoin  the  establishment,  and  in 
them  vegetables  of  prodigious  size  are  grown,  as  well  as 
strawberries.  But  it  is  a  close  race  with  the  climate.  Upon 
the  hillsides,  in  well-kept  terraces,  the  more  delicate  plants 
are  grown,  and  in  the  dooryard  sweet  mignonette,  phlox, 
pansies,  violets,  nasturtiums,  marguerites,  dahlias,  and  other 
homelike  llowers  flourish  in  the  summer  months,  nurtured 
by  the  slender  hands  and  tender  solicitude  of  the  Sisters  of 
St.  Anne.  These  heroic  women  have  immured  themselves 
in  this  inhospital)le  region,  and  have  undertaken  to  subdue 
nature  and  nature's  children  by  gentle  persistency,  and 
their  efforts  are  telling  in  the  manifold  results  to  be  ob- 
served about  them. 

But  being  unfitted  for  Innuit  life  by  these  civilizing  in- 
fluences, the  wonder  is  what  is  to  become  of  them  and  their 
acquirements  in  such  a  country. 

The  school  has  its  press,  and  has  issued  several  volumes 
in  the  native  tongue. 

There  is  the  great  log  bani.  with  its  well-filled  hay-loft, 
and  even  a  cow;  the  haystack  outside,  and  various  other 
evidences  of  rural  domesticity  and  comfort.  There  are  the 
wofully  homely  but  peachy-cheeked  native  girls,   neatly 


A  PLEASANT  DIVERSION  229 

clad  in  their  uniform  ginghams,  with  a  delicious  French  ac- 
cent in  their  very  precise  English,  the  source  of  which  be- 
comes apparent  in  conversation  with  these  sisters  of  St. 
Anne.  And  all  these  wonders  compensate  the  traveler  for 
the  delay  of  several  hours  usually  made  there  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  wood,  cleaning  boilers,  and  giving  the 
passengers  a  pleasant  diversion.  It  has  grown  to  be  the 
custom  of  the  mission  to  hold  special  services  whenever 
a  vessel  is  in  port,  and  the  chorus  of  fresh  young  Indian 
voices  in  the  mass  rings  from  the  organ  loft  in  the  church 
of  logs  with  much  impressiveness,  set  in  these  unique  sur- 
roundings in  a  desolate  country. 

These  Innuit  people  are  a  queer  lot,  the  untutored 
housed  in  their  squatty  mounds  of  earth,  the  entrances  to 
which  are  holes  under  ground,  and  subsisting  on  mixtures 
the  flavor  of  which  nearly  kills  a  white  man.  They  are, 
however,  as  a  whole,  niuch  superior  to  the  Indians  of  the 
interior,  being  a  trifle  less  lazy.  They  are  used  by  the  com- 
panies to  man  their  steamers,  but  if  one  can  shirk  work  he 
will.  They  seem  to  look  on  the  industry  of  tlie  white  man 
as  a  great  exhibition  of  foolishness.  They  live  in  a  country 
which  in  summer  is  a  great  flat  swale  full  of  bog  holes,  slimy 
and  decaying  peat,  innumerable  sloughs,  shallow  and  stag- 
nant, and  from  which  swarms  of  mosquitoes  rise  to  fairly 
destroy  any  animal  life.  The  insects  come  out  of  tlieiv 
watery  pupse  with  the  earliest  growth  of  spring  vegetation, 
early  in  May,  and  remain  in  clouds  till  destroyed  by  the 
frosts  of  September.  The  natives  seldom  go  into  the  woods 
at  this  summer  season,  and  their  dogs,  though  protected  by 
their  long  hair,  sometimes  die  from  bites  about  their  eyes 
and  paws.  Close-haired  beasts,  like  horses  and  cattle,  could 
not  live  a  month,  unless  protected  by  man. 


^30  A  LABYRINTH   OF   CHANNELS 

In  the  winter  and  early  spring  fierce  gales  of  wind  at 
zero  temperature  sweep  over  these  fiats  of  Alaska  in  constant 
succession,  and,  although  it  is  in  this  season  that  land  travel 
is  easiest,  it  is  full  of  dangers  t-o  any  but  the  natives,  who  are 
muffled  in  their  skin  parkas.  Their  undergarments  con- 
sist mostly  of  a  skin  shirt,  which  is  handed  down  from  one 
generation  to  another,  but  it  is  difiicult  for  an  inexperienced 
white  man  to  tell  whether  the  odor  of  one  of  these  garments 
belongs  to  the  present  owner  or  to  one  of  his  more  or  less  re- 
mote ancestors. 

The  bluifs  which  here  and  there  come  down  to  the  river 
are  desolate  enough,  with  their  barren  slopes,  but  they  give 
the  only  indication  that  the  country  is  not  all  under  water. 
The  channel  zigzag's  from  side  to  side  in  a  way  common  to 
such  swift  bodies  of  water,  which  are  constantly  washing 
out  and  building  up  bars  and  islets,  and  sweeping  down  in 
its  resistless  flood  an  immense  aggregate  of  soil  and  timber. 
The  banks,  where  they  rise  above  this  surging  current, 
which  runs  at  an  average  of  eight  miles  an  hour,  are  con- 
tinuall}'  caving  down,  and  so  sudden  and  precipitate  are 
these  landslides  sometimes  that  any  craft  in  their  way  is 
liable  to  be  destroyed. 

"When  the  Yukon  has  in  its  tortuous  career  again  turned 
towards  the  coast,  it  manages  somehow  in  the  course  of 
over  one  hundred  miles  to  empty  itself.  It  makes  a  very 
bad  job  of  it.  It  breaks  up  into  a  labyrinth  of  blind,  mis- 
leading channels,  slough  and  swamps,  which  extend  over 
an  immense  territory  with  a  most  mournful  and  distressing 
prospect.  The  country  itself  is  scarcely  above  the  level 
of  the  tides,  and  is  covered  with  a  monotonous  cloak  of 
scrubby  willows  and  rank  sedges.  It  is  in  summer  water, 
water  —  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  —  a  vast  inland  sea. 


ST.    MICHAEL   HARBOR  231 

filled  with  thousands  and  thousands  of  swale  islets  scarcely 
peeping  above  the  surface. 

Myriads  of  geese,  ducks,  and  wading  water  fowl  resort 
to  this  desolation,  where  in  the  countless  pools  and  the  thick 
covers  of  tall  grass  and  sedge  they  are  provided  mth  food 
and  protection  from  their  enemies.  With  good  luck  and  a 
good  pilot,  the  steamer  finally  works  its  way  out  by  the 
northern  channel,  and  reaches  the  sea  at  Kutlik,  which  is  a 
meagre  settlement  where  the  steamers  take  on  drift  wood. 
The  rest  of  the  trip  is  along  the  coast.  A  voyage  in  one  of 
these  small,  flat-bottom  boats  of  the  Yukon,  is  a  good  deal 
like  knocking  about  the  Atlantic  on  a  plank,  unless  the 
weather  is  very  favorable.  In  this  region  it  has  few  such 
agreeable  moods. 

A  cursory  glance  at  St.  Michael  harbor  tells  why  the 
question  of  getting  supplies  up  the  Yukon  is  a  serious  one 
to  overcome,  even  were  the  other  conditions  partially  favor- 
able. The  harbor  is  but  little  more  than  a  crescent  on  the 
shores  of  isTorton  Sound.  It  is  neither  deep  nor  well-pro- 
tected. The  port  itself  is  on  an  island,  about  five  by 
eighteen  miles,  shaped  something  like  an  ink  spot,  and  sep- 
arated from  the  mainland  by  a  narrow  slough.  The  hills 
of  the  mainland  are  some  four  or  five  miles  back  from  the 
shore  to  the  south.  At  the  other  points  tundra  is  broken 
only  by  rolling  hills,  which  are  hardly  more  tlian  large 
mounds. 

Ocean  steamers  have  to  make  a  wide  detour  away  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  on  account  of  the  dirt  it  has  been 
pouring  into  the  sea,  and  St,  Michael  is  the  only  place  where 
they  can  get  within  a  hundred  miles  of  it,  but  steamers 
drawing  over  twenty  feet  anchor  about  a  mile  and  a  half, 
even,  from  St.  Michael,  and  none  of  the  vessels  lie  in  nearer 


232  FOKT   GET-THERE 

than  lialf  a  mile  from  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company's 
wharf.  The  pQit  is  a  clustering  village  of  some  thirty  or 
more  small  houses,  and  is  nearly  wholly  given  over  to  the 
interests  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company.  Scattered 
huts  and  Eskimo  dwellings  make  up  the  rest  of  its  entirety. 
Half  a  mile  further  on  is  now  Fort  Get-There,  headquarters 
for  the  Xorth  American  Transportation  and  Trading  Com- 
pany. The  iskmd  is  undoubtedly  of  volcanic  origin,  it  be- 
ing nothing  more  than  volcanic  rock  and  tundra,  entirely 
treeless,  and,  even  at  this  season,  dreary-looking.  The 
tundra  is  nothing  but  the  moss  and  peat  covering  rock. 
Soil  there  is  none.  The  tundra  may  vary  up  to  two  feet 
in  de]3th,  but  below  this  it  is  frozen  solid  at  all  times  of  the 
year.  Imagine  agiieulture  where  the  plow  would  turn 
up  ice  and  frozen  moss  at  from  eight  inches  down  beneath 
the  surface.  In  spite  of  this  the  grass  is  almost  knee-deep, 
and  bright-colored  wild  flowers  are  luxurious  in  their  gTOwth 
and  profusion.  Innumerable  small  ponds  break  the  sur- 
face, filled  with  water  which  seej^s  through  the  moss,  and 
which  is  neither  palatable  nor  good.  It  appears  to  be  im- 
pregnated with  alkali.  All  the  water  used  by  the  Com- 
mercial Company's  post  is  brought  from  the  mainland  by 
boat.  That  at  Fort  Get-There  is  said  to  be  filtered  from 
the  ponds. 

The  fii'st  settlement  here  was  made  by  the  Rusvstans  in 
1836.  At  the  time  of  the  purchase  of  Alaska  this  fort  and 
post  were  a  part  of  the  transfer,  about  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  being  paid  for  the  buildings  and  fortifications.  The 
United  States  must  have  let  their  interest  go  by  default,  as 
now  all  that  i-s  left  is  a  small  blockhouse  and  half  a  dozen 
small  cannon,  and  even  these  are  a  part  and  parcel  of  the 
Commercial  Company's  post.     Our  lone  government  ofli- 


A   WONDERFUL  DELTA  233 

cial,  deputy  collector  of  customs,  has  his  office  in  a  dwell- 
ing rented  from  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company. 

St.  Michael  is  eighty  miles,  at  least,  north  of  the  pass 
l)y  which  the  steamers  enter  the  river,  and  the  river  proper 
is  over  a  hundred  miles  further  on,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
extent  of  its  delta  being  second  to  none  in  the  world.  After 
an  ocean  steamship  reaches  St.  Michael  the  question  of  get- 
ting its  cargo  ashore  and  up  the  river  commences  in  real 
earnest.  Everything  has  to  be  lightered  from  the  boat  to 
the  warehouses,  which,  with  the  present  improved  facilities, 
is  tedious  and  exasperating.  A  small  launch  and  two  scows 
have  constituted  the  outfit.  Lighterage  is  also  subject  to 
the  conditions  of  the  weather,  for  the  wind  frequently  blows 
here  at  a  terrific  rate.  When  the  river  steamers  are  in  they 
take  in  cargo  alongside  the  ship,  which  greatly  expedites 
matters.  Having  been  loaded,  the  river  steamer  must 
watch  its  chance  to  cross  JSTorton  Sound  to  the  Aphoon 
IMouth,  and  thence  over  a  hundred  miles  to  the  main  river. 
This  must  all  be  done  between  June  15th  and  October  1st. 
Sometimes  the  river  starts  freezing  by  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember, and  St.  Michael's  Bay  has  never  been  opened  before 
June  18th.  The  sound  freezes  over  early  in  winter,  and 
seldom  is  opened  before  June  20th.  One  of  the  inhabitants 
very  tersely  puts  the  situation  thus : 

"  For  nine  months  it  means  from  thirty  to  sixty  degrees 
below,  and  everything  frozen  over.  For  two  months  it's 
mosquitoes,  and  for  the  other  one  month,  it  depends  on  the 
weather  whether  it  is  fog  or  sunshine."  In  spite  of  this, 
the  people  here  do  not  seem  to  be  particularly  discontented. 
For  ages  the  natives  have  lived  in  these  ice-bound  regions 
of  the  north,  and  have  met  and  overcome  the  most  inhos- 
pitable conditions  that  could  confront  human  beings.    Phys- 


234  INVENTIVE  AND   RESOURCEFUL  NATIVES 

ically  tlioy  are  good  specimens  of  manhood.  Mentally 
tliey  are  far  superior  to  most  savage  tribes.  In  their  do- 
mestic pursuits  they  are  skilled  to  a  degTee  that  challenges 
admiration.  They  are  inventive,  and  out  of  the  slender  re- 
sources of  their  native  land  they  have  gathered  much  that 
would  be  accounted  wealth  if  the  arts  of  civilization  had 
not  intruded.  They  have  learned  to  tan  the  hides  of  the 
seal  and  walrus  into  leather  that  is  waterproof  and  resists 
wear  like  iron,  "With  it  they  construct  their  kyaks  and 
canoes  and  their  summer  dwellings.  Out  of  the  walrus 
tusks  they  fashion  implements  of  the  chase,  and  ornament 
them  with  faithful  likenesses  of  the  animals,  birds,  and  fish 
with  which  they  are  familiar.  Ivory-carving  is  an  art  with 
them.  The  women  sew,  and  make  the  fur  garments,  and 
boots  and  shoes  that  are  worn  by  all.  They  are  a  merry 
race,  giving  themselves  up  to  pleasure  completely  when  the 
season  for  labor  has  passed.  Honest  and  truthful  to  a  de- 
gree, they  are  trustful  of  the  stranger,  and  hospitable,  too, 
though  to  the  newcomer  their  hospitality  is  sometimes  op- 
pressive. 

The  journey  from  St.  Michael  to  the  mouths  of  the 
Yukon,  and  thence  up  its  swift  current,  pushing  a  barge, 
is  a  much  longer  and  more  serious  task.  AVe  were  fortunate 
in  connections,  and  the  little  stern-wheeler  and  barge  were 
soon  loaded,  ready  to  make  the  spurt  across  the  sound.  The 
weather  was  caught  in  a  favorable  mood,  and  we  were 
quickly  in  the  safer  waters,  where  narrow  banks  like  dikes 
rise  out  of  the  sea  and  extend  oceanward  for  miles,  inclosing 
the  channel. 

These  narrow  strips  of  land  resemble  great  wliarves  or 
breakwaters  when  seen  from  the  ocean  side.  The  practical 
navigator  anchors  his  craft  in  the  lee  of  these  banks  to  wait 


BREASTING  THE  CURRENT  237 

a  favoring  tide,  and  when  it  rises  pushes  his  vessel  forward 
with  all  possible  speed  to  cross  the  shallows  at  the  entrance, 
nor  stops  until  the  first  station  of  the  journey  up  the  river 
is  reached  at  Kutlik. 

Only  at  high  tide,  or  when  the  river  is  very  high,  is  it 
safe  to  push  loaded  boats  over  these  bars,  for  once  caught 
on  them  it  may  be  a  matter  of  weeks  before  the  boat  can 
be  got  off  and  the  journey  resumed.  There  is  more  or  less 
of  this  all  the  way  up  the  river.  As  one  traveler  expressed 
it,  "  it  is  touch  and  go,  or  touch  and  not  go,"  much  of  the 
way.     There  can  be  no  time-table. 

The  river  proper  is  not  generally  entered  until  the 
second  day  out  from  St.  Michael.  During  all  this  time  the 
steamer  has  been  winding  in  and  out,  seeming  never  to 
directly  approach  the  range  of  distant  hills  that  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  mainland,  yet  ever  coming  nearer  through 
the  sinuous  channel.  Suddenly  the  steamer  emerges  from 
the  narrow  and  shallow  w^ay  into  a  broad,  swift-moving 
current  confined  between  something  like  banks,  and  point- 
ing a  long,  straight,  dreary  course  toward  the  mountains. 
The  pulse  of  the  engines  quicken,  there  is  a  straining  of 
timbers,  and  with  quick  leaps  forward  the  steamer  breasts 
the  mighty  current,  and  backward  from  her  bow  the  white 
foam  curls  as  she  rushes  onward. 

But  it  is  up-hill  work.  Occasionally  the  strong  ma- 
chinery, which  takes  up  most  of  the  room  in  the  boat,  will 
break  down,  and  the  machine  shop,  which  has  to  be  a  fea- 
ture of  Yukon  craft,  is  kept  busy.  Or  perhaps  the  wood 
gives  out  before  a  station  is  reached,  and  the  crew,  and,  pos- 
sibly, the  passengers,  are  brought  into  service  to  cut  a  fresh 
supply  from  the  banks.  As  the  little  steamer  puffs  along 
the  incidents  observed  in  coming  down  the  river  are  re- 


238  DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   RIVER   ROUTE 

pcatcd.  Tlie  natives  tlirong  to  the  landings,  and  when  vil- 
lages are  passed,  the  Indians  and  dogs  line  the  banks,  in 
picturesque  confusion.  There  is  a  sort  of  delight  in  riding 
swiftly  down  the  current  while  these  scenes  are  j^assing  in 
panorama,  but  in  struggling  ui>,  day  after  day,  the  monot- 
ony is  tedious,  though  everyone  tries  to  make  the  best  of  it. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  river  route  to  the  gold 
regions  of  the  upper  Yukon,  with  all  its  drawbacks,  and  the 
length  of  time  it  consumes,  is  the  least  dangerous,  the  easiest 
and  the  most  agreeable.  It  must  in  the  future  be  made  to 
play  a  great  part  in  the  development  of  Alaska,  and  yet, 
for  commercial  purposes,  it  is  a  hard  nut  to  crack.  It  is  a 
strange  river  in  a  strange  country. 

If  Alaska  still  belonged  to  Russia,  and  development  had 
to  come  from  Kamschatka  and  Siberia,  its  position  would 
be  right  enough,  but  it  is  wrong  end  to  for  the  United  States. 
Access  to  it  involves  the  crossing  of  two  turbulent  seas,  the 
ISTorth  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  three  thousand  miles  to  a  far 
northern  point,  then  in  a  horseshoe  route  up  and  south 
again,  over  a  rapid  current  and  shallow  and  shifting  bed 
that  at  the  best  has  but  little  more  than  four  months  per 
year  of  ticklish  navigation. 

Even  with  improved  facilities  it  must  always  be  expen- 
sive business  to  carry  freight  so  long  a  distance.  All  efforts 
to  improve  the  channel  must  be  wasted,  because  of  the  swift 
nature  of  the  river,  which  is  continually  pouring  down  silt 
and  constructing  its  own  shallow  channels.  In  some  places 
the  na^ngable  way  is  here  to-day  and  gone  somewhere  else 
to-morrow.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  mark  a  channel  at  the 
mouth,  for  the  movement  of  the  ice  in  Bering  Sea  is  con- 
tinually changing  the  depths  at  this  point,  so  that  what 
mis'lit  be  the  channel  one  season  would  not  be  the  next. 


PLANS   FOR  THE  WINTER  239 

From  this  cause,  and  hioli  winds  making  it  too  rough  for 
river  steamers  to  cross  the  intervening  eighty  miles  from  St. 
Michael  to  the  mouth,  there  is  much  delay  here,  and  it  would 
be  impossible  to  fix  regular  dates  of  sailing.  To  deepen 
one  of  the  channels  sufficiently  to  allow  ocean  vessels  to 
enter  the  mouth  of  the  river  would  be  very  expensive,  and 
even  when  done  could  hardly  be  expected,  under  the  con- 
ditions, to  be  permanent. 

In  spite  of  all  the  difficulties,  the  transportation  com- 
panies have  struggled  nobly  to  provide  for  the  necessities 
of  the  increasing  population  at  the  mines,  and  it  remains 
the  only  way  by  which  provisions  can  be  carried  in  in  large 
quantities.  To  the  people  there  these  little  river  steamers 
mean  life,  if  winter  is  to  be  spent  in  the  interior,  and  unless 
winters  are  spent  in  the  interior  there  can  be  no  develop- 
ment of  the  mines.  It  is  then  that  the  digging  must  be 
done. 

Meeting  with  generally  favorable  conditions  on  our 
way  up  the  river,  we  arrived  at  Circle  City  in  good  time. 
Joe  was  down  from  the  mines  for  another  load  of  supplies, 
and  he  informed  me  that  so  far  as  he  had  worked  the  ground 
where  our  claims  were  the  prospects  were  good,  and  he  pro- 
posed to  stock  up  with  provisions  and  continue  the  work 
through  the  winter.  It  seemed  best  for  me  to  continue  on 
the  steamer  up  to  Forty  ]\Iile  and  seek  to  make  some  arrange- 
ments,  if  possible,  for  the  working  of  our  claims  there  be- 
fore returning  to  Circle  City  for  the  winter.  So  up  the 
river  I  went,  little  dreaming  of  the  events  which  had  thrown 
the  miners  of  the  upper  Yukon  into  a  fever  of  excitement. 


CHAPTER  XYI 

ARRIVAL  AT  FORTY  MILE  —  WONDERFUL  STORIES  OF 
NEW  DIGGINGS  — 110  !  FOR  THE  KLONDIKE  !  — MAD 
RUSH  OF  EXCITED  GOLD-SEEKERS. 

Something  Has  Happened  —  Forty  Mile  Almost  Deserted  —  A  Genuine 
Stampede  —  The  Discovery  on  the  Thron-diuck  or  Klondike  — 
Henderson's  Find  on  Gold  Bottom  —  He  Returns  for  Provisions  — 
Meeting  Cormack's  Fishing  Party  — He  Tells  of  His  Discovery  — 
Cormack  Concludes  to  Find  Gold  Bottom  —  Over  the  Trail  — Re~ 
turns  to  His  Fishing  Camp  — Prospects  a  Little  on  His  Way— - 
Stumbles  on  a  Good  Pan  on  Bonanza  Creek —  Claims  for  Himself, 
Tagish  Charlie,  and  Tagish  Jim  —  Siwash  George's  Reputation  for 
Truth  and  Veracity  —  Where  Did  He  Get  the  Gold  ?  — Tremendous 
Excitement  — Forty  Mile  Deserted  — Old  Miners  Lack  Faith  — 
Skim  Diggings  —  Highly-Colored  Tales — I  Conclude  to  Go  and 
See  for  Myself —  Poling  Up  Stream  — Returning  Prospectors  Shoot 
By  Us  —  "It's  a  Big  Thing,  Boys"  — Never  Mind  the  Blisters  — 
Tired  and  Footsore  — A  Lively  Camp  — Trying  to  Sleep  — Ten 
Dollars  to  the  Pan. 

WHEN  we  readied  Eorty  Mile  it  was  at  once  appa- 
rent that  sometliing  had  happened  to  that  lively 
little  settlement  with  which  \^e  had  become  ac- 
quainted a  few  weeks  before  on  onr  swift  trip  down  the 
river.  A  great  change  had  come  over  it,  and  Ave  were  not 
long  in  discovering  the  reason.  The  greater  part  of  the 
place  had  vanished,  moved  bag  and  baggage  to  the  "  Thron- 
diuck,"  the  moose  valley  forty  miles  above.  It  was  here 
that  we  heard  the  story  of  the  "  Klondike  "  discovery. 

There  is  some  dissimilarity  in  the  accounts  of  how  the 

(240) 


THE   DAUNTLESS   THREE  241 

discovery  was  made,  but  tlie  most  reliable  seems  to  show 
that  the  credit  for  it  in  the  first  instance  should  be  given  to 
three  men,  Kobert  Henderson,  a  Canadian,  a  native  of 
Prince  Edward  Island,  Frank  Swanson,  a  Norwegian,  and 
another  man  named  Munson,  who,  in  July,  1896,  were  pros- 
pecting on  Indian  Creek,  which,  as  will  be  observed  by  the 
map,  empties  into  the  Yukon  some  twenty-five  miles  above 
the  Klondike. 

They  proceeded  up  the  creek  without  finding  sufficient 
to  satisfy  them  until  they  reached  Dominion  Creek,  and 
after  prospecting  there  they  crossed  over  the  divide  and 
found  Gold  Bottom,  where  they  got  good  prospects  and 
went  to  work.  Gold  Bottom  is  a  little  creek  whose  head- 
waters are  very  close  to  Dominion  Creek.  It  flows  north- 
ward, emptying  into  another  creek,  which,  in  turn,  empties 
into  the  Klondike  about  twelve  miles  from  its  mouth.  It  is 
said  that  the  attention  of  these  prospectors  was  fii-st  directed 
to  Gold  Bottom  by  the  stories  told  by  Indian  fishermen. 
But  these  stories  had  often  been  told,  and  little  confidence 
was  placed  in  the  acuteness  of  the  Indians  of  this  region  in 
noticing  traces  of  the  yellow  metal. 

The  prospectors  kept  at  work  for  some  days  with  results 
that  seemed  promising,  but,  provisions  running  short,  Hen- 
derson retraced  his  steps  to  the  mouth  of  Indian  Creek, 
leaving  the  other  two  at  work.  From  the  mouth  of  Indian 
Creek  he  went  up  to  Sixty  Mile,  but  failing  to  obtain  a  sup- 
ply there  he  had  to  make  for  Forty  Mile.  On  ihe  way  down 
he  passed  an  old  mining  comrade  named  George  W.  Cor- 
rnack,  a  native  of  California,  wdio  had  associated  witli  him 
two  Indians,  Tagish  Jim  and  Tagish  Charlie,  natives  of  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Yukon.  Cormack  was  what  is  known 
as  a  "  squaw  man,"  having,  like  many  other  pioneers  in  the 


2-i2  THE   CAMP    OF    "  SIWASH   GEORC^E  " 

country,  married  an  Indian  woman,  and  thus  liaving  be- 
come more  closely  associated  witli  the  "Stick"  Indian  ways. 
He  was  commonly  called  "  Siwasli  George."  AYitb  liis  In- 
dian associates  lie  had  been  fishing  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Klondike  for  some  days,  but  without  much  success,  as  the 
salmon  did  not  run  up  well  in  the  simimer  of  1896.  He 
had  heard  stories  of  the  Indians  as  to  traces  of  gold  on  the 
creeks  emptying  into  the  Klondike,  but  like  most  of  the  old- 
timers  had  paid  little  attention  to  them,  and  in  his  Indian 
life  had  looked  upon  the  salmon  season  as  a  time  when  the 
energies  must  be  expended  in  laying  up  a  store  of  fish  for  the 
winter. 

The  scene  as  Henderson  came  drifting  down  the  rapid- 
flowing  Yukon  towards  the  little  camp  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Klondike,  where  Cormack  and  his  associates  were  con- 
ducting their  unsuccessful  fishing  operations,  may  be  easily 
imagined.  Here  M'ith  majestic  swiftness  the  great  river  rolls 
between  its  steep  banks,  on  which  plants  and  flowers  flourish 
in  the  colors  and  exuberance  characteristic  of  a  Yukon 
summer.  To  the  voyager  it  was  a  weird,  picturesque  scene, 
as  the  sun  cast  a  flood  of  light  on  the  sweeping  river  and  the 
steep  mountains,  fringed  with  green  and  tipped  with  streaks 
of  white,  and  fell  brightly  on  the  camp  of  Cormack,  his  In- 
dians, and  his  dogs.  An  opportunity  for  a  brief  companion- 
ship in  these  solitudes  is  seldom  missed,  and  Henderson 
steered  to  the  camp,  where  items  of  news  were  exchanged. 

It  is  one  of  the  articles  of  the  miner's  code  that  he  shall 
proclaim  all  discoveries  made  by  him  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  Henderson,  who  had  already  dropped  the  word  to  a  few 
at  Sixty  Mile,  to  which  place  he  had  first  gone  for  pro- 
visions, but  without  success,  at  once  advised  Cormack  of  the 
discovery  on  .Gold  Bottom,  and  advised  him  to  try  there. 


FINDING    A   BONANZA  243 

Making  inquiries  of  the  local  Indians  as  to  the  situation  of 
Gold  Bottom,  Cormack  learned  the  route  to  it,  and,  along 
with  the  two  Indians  mentioned,  started,  climbing  over  the 
ridge  which  divides  the  valley  of  the  Yukon  from  the  valley 
of  the  creek  now  called  Bonanza,  down  into  that  creek  and 
up  it  to  the  rich  stream  now  known  as  Eldorado.  It  was  a 
rough,  agonizing  journey,  but  Cormack  and  his  Indians 
were  hardened  to  such  conditions.  They  went  up  it  about 
three  miles  and  then  followed  the  ridge  dividing  its  waters 
from  those  of  Bonanza  until  they  struck  the  watershed 
between  Indian  Creek  and  Klondike,  along  which  they  trav- 
eled until  they  reached  the  head  of  the  creek  that  they  as- 
sumed to  be  the  Gold  Bottom.  They  went  down,  found 
Swanson  and  Munson  at  work,  but  Cormack  was  not  sat- 
isfied with  the  prospects  there.  They  Avere  fair,  but  not 
sufficient  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  placers  of  exceeding 
richness  lay  in  streaks  under  the  frozen  soil.  Often  had 
prospectors  been  tempted  into  these  hills  only  to  work  their 
way  out  in  disgust  to  seek  provisions.  Cormack  determined 
to  return  to  his  fishing,  prospecting  the  creek  from  its  head 
downwards,  as  it  lay  in  the  direction  of  his  camp. 

He  found  nothing  of  note  until  he  came  down  about 
midway,  where  from  a  little  nook  in  a  bend  of  the  creek  he 
panned  out  a  good  prospect.  This  encouraged  him  to  try 
again.  He  did  so,  and  in  a  few  moments  panned  out  twelve 
dollars  and  seventy-five  cents,  which  he  put  in  an  old  cart- 
ridge shell  and  corked  with  a  piece  of  stick.  This  was  on 
August  10,  189G.  The  next  day  he  staked  discovery  claim 
and  l!^o.  1  below  for  himself,  ISTo.  2  for  Tagish  Charlie,  and 
No.  1  above  for  Tagish  Jim.  He  then  made  his  way  down 
the  creek  as  fast  as  possible  and  went  down  the  river  for  a 

supply  of  provisions. 
15 


244  THE   STAMPEDE   FROM  FORTY   MILE 

On  the  way  he  met  several  miners  and  informed  them  of 
his  discovery.  At  first  they  would  not  believe  him,  as  his 
reputation  for  truth  was  not  above  par.  These  miners  said 
they  could  not  tell  when  he  was  telling  the  truth,  if  he  ever 
was.  Yet  there  was  no  question  about  the  man  having 
the  twelve  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents  in  gold.  The  only 
question,  then,  was,  Where  did  he  get  it?  He  had  not  been 
up  the  Sixty  Mile,  nor  yet  the  Forty  Mile,  and  he  must  have 
got  it  somewhere  near  where  he  was  engaged  in  fishing,  and 
that  was  right  at  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike.  There  must 
be  gold  there  somewhere. 

Then  followed  the  excitement.  It  takes  very  little  to 
start  a  stampede  of  miners.  Boatload  after  boatload  of  men 
went  up  from  Forty  Mile.  They  went  up  any  how  and 
any  way,  starting  at  all  times  of  the  day  and  night.  Men 
who  had  been  drunk  for  weeks  and  weeks,  in  fact,  were 
tumbled  into  the  boats  and  taken  up  Avithout  any  knowledge 
that  they  were  travelers.  One  man,  it  was  related,  was  so 
drunk  that  he  did  not  realize  that  he  had  left  Forty  Mile 
until  he  was  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  way  to  the  Klon- 
dike. Yet  this  same  man  is  settled  on  one  of  the  best  of 
claims. 

In  less  than  three  days  every  boat  had  gone  from  Fort 
Cudahy  and  the  town  of  Forty  Mile,  and  only  enough 
people  were  left  to  watch  the  business  houses  and  the  police 
barracks,  w^hile  a  few  who  could  not  obtain  boats  were  act- 
ing in  the  most  distracted  manner.  ISTo  one  knew  anything 
about  the  richness  of  the  ncAV  discoveries;  they  only  knew 
that  a  man  had  been  there  and  had  come  away  with  a  few 
gold  nuggets. 

I  knew  enoTigh  of  miners'  stampedes  not  to  be  greatly 
interested  in  the  new  development  at  Forty  Mile.     I  was 


"big  pans"  245 

aware  that  there  had  been  at  that  place  a  lot  of  miners  who 
had  been  having  poor  luck,  and  leading  a  very  unsatisfac- 
tory existence.  They  were  the  bluest  of  the  blue,  for  they 
had  been  tramping  over  the  rough  trails  in  the  country 
back  from  the  Yukon  in  the  hopes  of  making  a  strike,  had 
failed,  and  were,  as  the  winter  season  approached,  com- 
pletely disgusted  with  the  country.  Those  who  had  been 
working  for  wages  in  some  of  the  paying  mines  were  better 
off,  but  the  moment  the  Klondike  news  came  they  threw  up 
their  jobs,  and  some  owners  of  the  mines  on  Forty  Mile 
either  stopped  work  or  sold  out  their  claims,  and  departed 
with  the  rest.  A  large  number  of  them  rushed  off  mthout 
provisions  or  the  means  to  obtain  them. 

Very  soon  some  of  these  came  down  the  river,  having 
located  claims,  and  then  it  was  learned  that  there  was  really 
something  on  the  Klondike  w^orth  traveling  after.  "  It's  a 
big  thing,"  they  said.  "  Everybody  is  finding  big  pans." 
They  were  speaking  comparatively,  for  none  of  the  really 
big  finds  had  been  made  as  yet.  The  surface  pans  were 
large  as  compared  wdtli  those  that  the  miners  had  been  ac- 
customed to  in  the  region.  It  was  easy  enough  to  find  gold, 
but  the  thing  was  to  find  it  fast  enough  to  pay.  A  "  grub- 
stake "  strike,  by  which  one  might  succeed  in  obtaining  a 
winter's  outfit,  Avas  something.  All  the  returned  miners 
could  say  was  that  the  surface  was  good,  and  ''  if  it  went 
down  it  would  be  the  biggest  thing  on  earth."  There  was 
a  belief  among  those  remaining  at  Forty  j\Iile  that  they  were 
only  what  are  called  "  skim  diggings."  This  impression 
was  intensified  by  a  few  old  miners  who  had  come  back 
either  in  disgust  or  highly  skeptical.  They  said  the 
valley  was  too  wide,  that  the  -willow^s  did  not  lean  the  right 
way,  and  that  the  waters  did  not  taste  right.     It  was  simply 


V 


246  STARTING   FOR  THE   KLONDIKE 

another  crazy  staiii])C'de.  Sonic  of  tlieni  did  not  even  wait 
to  stake  out  a  claim,  while  others  staked  them  and  sold  them 
for  what  they  could  get,  thinking  themselves  in  luck  to  do 
that.  The  creek  had  been  staked  principally  by  "  chee- 
chacoes,"  as  the  Indians  call  them,  or  tenderfeet.  So  little 
faith  was  shown  at  Forty  Mile  that  some  of  the  claim- 
holders  could  not  obtain  "  gTub  "  at  the  stores  in  exchange 
for  their  prospects. 

But  more  and  more  highly  colored  tales  began  to  come 
down,  though  no  one,  so  far  as  we  could  hear,  had  reached 
bed-rock  as  yet,  and  I  determined  that  I  would  put  out  and 
see  for  myself.  I  knew  it  would  be  an  impossibility  for  one 
man  to  Avork  a  boat  up  the  rapid  Yukon,  so  I  picked  out  a 
helper,  with  w^hom  I  was  well  acquainted,  from  among  the 
feverish  throng  that  were  waiting  for  a  chance  to  go  up. 
AVe  threw  a  tent,  a  stove,  and  a  month's  provisions  into  a 
boat,  and  started  off,  but  before  we  had  got  far  we  overtook 
two  men  who  insisted  that  their  happiness  in  this  world, 
and,  perhaps,  in  the  next,  depended  upon  our  taking  them 
along  with  us.  They  would  pull  the  boat,  do  anything,  if 
we  w^ould  only  let  them  come  in.     So  we  did. 

AVorking  up  stream  with  a  loaded  boat  is  a  laborious 
undertaking.  The  current  is  too  swift  to  pennit  of  rowing 
or  paddling  except  for  occasional  short  stretches,  and  so  we 
had  to  pole  most  of  the  way,  and  when  that  failed  we  had 
to  tow  or  "  trick  "  the  boat  along.  These  two  men  would 
grasp  the  tow  line  and  pull  with  all  their  strength,  for  they 
were  anxious  to  make  the  best  time  possible,  but  neither  of 
them  were  experts  in  handling  a  boat  in  the  peculiar 
methods  required  on  the  Yukon.  ]\Iy  brief  summer's  ex- 
perience, however,  had  been  of  value  to  me,  and  we  worked 
along  in  fair  order,  but  most  of  the  time  in  a  drizzling  rain. 


NO   WILD   GOOSE   CHASE  247 

It  was  very  dismal.  We  camped  wherever  the  lengthening 
nights  overtook  us,  and  generally  on  a  gravelly  bank,  for 
the  heavy  moss  on  the  top  of  the  banks  overlooking  the  river 
is  full  of  water.  We  ate  hurriedly,  slept  little,  and  hour 
after  hour  dragged  the  tow  line  over  rough  places  on  the 
shore,  the  boat  all  the  time  pulling  a  dead  weight  against  us. 

Long  before  we  reached  the  Klondike  many  boats  passed 
us  loaded  with  men  who  had  been  to  the  new  diggings  and 
were  returning  for  provisions.  They  shot  by  us  gaily  in  a 
five-mile  current  in  strange  contrast  to  the  men  on  the  tow 
line,  who,  with  blistered  feet,  were  slipping  and  sprawling 
along  the  rocks  on  the  bank. 

"  Hurry  up,  boys.  It's  a  great  thing!  "  they  shouted 
as  they  shot  past,  as  if  we  could  hurry  any  faster  against  that 
current. 

"  Five  dollars  to  the  pan,  boys,"  shouted  another,  "  but 
take  it  easy,  for  there's  lots  of  good  claims  there,"  and  we 
pulled  away  on  the  tow  line  harder  than  ever. 

"  Hello,  Bill,  is  that  you?  "  came  a  voice  from  another 
boat  later  on,  and  I  recognized  a  man  with  whom  I  had  be- 
come acquainted  on  the  trip  in,  and  who  had  stopped  at 
Forty  Mile.  "  It  looks  good,"  he  shouted.  "  Yes,  I've 
staked.  Will  sell  for  one  hundred  dollars,  for  there  are 
more  claims  there.  Take  some  grub  over  the  mountains 
and  look  around  a  little.     I'll  be  back  shortly." 

I  made  up  my  mind  that  it  was  no  wild  goose  chase.  I 
could  take  that  man's  word,  for  he  was  an  old  miner,  and 
not  easily  deceived.  "  It  must  be  a  big  thing."  I  said  to 
my  companions,  and  they  pulled  and  poled  with  renewed 
energy.  How  exasperating  a  five-mile  current  can  be 
when  it  is  against  one,  and  there  is  gold  at  the  other  end! 
Never  mind  the  blisters  on  the  feet  and  the  sore  hands! 


248         GOLD  SEEKERS  ON  THE  BEACH 

Never  111  hid  stopping  to  cat!  AVe  immcbed  crackers  and 
kept  on  pulling  and  poling. 

On  the  third  evening  we  reached  the  little  native  village 
at  the  month  of  the  Klondike.  When  Joe  and  I  had  gone 
past  there  in  the  early  snmmer  there  had  been  but  two  white 
men  in  the  village.  Now  they  were  camped  all  about  the 
banks.  We  were  too  tired  and  footsore  to  attempt  to  go 
over  the  mountains  that  night,  so  we  put  up  the  tent  and 
dragged  our  boat  up  on  the  beach.  Some  of  the  men  who 
were  camped  there  had  been  over  the  trail,  and  had  come 
down  for  more  provisions  which  they  had  left  in  caches,  or 
in  the  native  huts,  while  some  were  bound  down  the  river  to 
Forty  Mile,  like  those  we  had  passed  on  the  way.  Others 
had  just  arrived  and,  like  ourselves,  were  waiting  to  go 
over  the  trail.  We  had  a  bite,  a  little  hot  coffee,  and  then 
a  pipe,  then  sat  and  listened  to  the  stories  of  those  who  had 
been  in.  These  stories,  however,  did  not  agree.  Some  said 
they  were  not  coming  back,  that  the  Klondike  couldn't 
"  hold  a  candle  "  to  Forty  Mile  Creek,  others  spoke  of  big 
strikes,  but  we  were  shown  little  gold.  They  had  just 
staked  out  their  claims  and  were  going  back  for  supplies. 

All  night  the  boats  kept  arriving  and  pulling  up  on  the 
gravelly  beach.  They  came  from  Sixty  Mile,  Stewart 
River  —  from  everywhere  in  this  part  of  the  Yukon  valley, 
and  when  we  wondered  how  they  came  to  hear  of  it  we 
found  that  they  had  been  sent  for  by  their  friends  on  the 
stream.     The  natives  had  been  used  as  messengers. 

Then  we  were  startled  by  a  wild  whoop  like  a  Comanche 
yell  from  the  brow  of  the  first  rise  of  the  mountain  over 
which  the  trail  comes  from  Bonanza.  Then  came  a  volley  of 
yells,  and  a  stranger  would  have  thought  that  a  whole  band 
of  savages  were  pouring  down  the  hill  after  us.     We  looked 


EXCITING   NEWS  249 

lip  through  the  bushes  to  see  tlie  rocks  tumbling  and  rolling 
down  with  them.  The  yells  increased;  and  rocks  and  men 
came  down  faster  and  faster  till  they  reached  the  bottom  a 
few  yards  away.  Of  course  we  knew  what  was  up.  They 
had  just  come  in  from  the  creek.  We  were  up  and  shout- 
ing, too. 

"  How  is  it? "'  everybody  asked  as  the  men  came  nearer. 

"  Ten  dollars  to  the  pan,  right  in  the  bank  of  the  creek 
on  No.  11." 

"  Above  or  below?  " 

"  Oh,  below,  of  course.  Nobody  has  done  any  panning 
above." 

It  is,  of  course,  understood  that  when  a  discovery  is  made 
on  a  creek  that  claim  is  called  "  Discovery  Claim,"  the  next 
above  is  called  '•'  ISTo.  1,  above,"  the  next  one  down  stream 
"  No.  1,  below,"  and  so  on  as  far  as  claims  are  made  either 
up  or  down. 

The  little  camp  of  scattered  tents  was  at  once  alive  with 
eager  men.  The  returning  miners  were  seized  and  button- 
holed, to  use  a  polite  expression  which  is  sometimes  out  of 
place  in  Alaska  for  want  of  buttons.  More  wood  was 
thrown  on  the  fire,  the  coffee-pot  was  put  where  it  would  boil 
quickly,  and  the  frying  pan  was  soon  doing  its  duty,  while 
the  visitors  squatted  around  and  were  pumped  for  informa- 
tion. 

We  were  told  that  three  men  on  Bonanza  Creek  worked 
out  seventy-five  dollars  in  four  hours,  and  that  a  twelve- 
dollar  nugget  had  been  found.  Nothing  had  yet  been  done 
except  to  pan,  though  two  men  with  two  lengths  of  sluice 
boxes  had  taken  out  four  thousand  dollars.  The  gold  is 
coarse.     That  was  enough  to  set  the  miners  wild. 

It  was  evident,  from  the  ferocity  witli  which  the  men 


"ioO  PILGRIMS   OF   THE   NIGHT 

attacked  the  solid  food,  and  poured  down  tlic  Loiling-liot 
black  coffee,  that  the  trip  to  the  creek  was  not  exactly  a 
picnic,  thongh  they  say  it  is  "  fair."  We  knew  enough  to 
know  that  in  Alaska  that  word  applies  to  any  place  where  a 
man  can  go  without  breaking  his  neck. 

In  a  little  while  I  saw  a  few  men  slipping  away  from  the 
small  crowd  clustered  about  the  fire,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
the  sound  of  stones  and  rocks  rolling  down  the  mountain 
side  was  heard  again.  But  there  were  no  yells.  iSTo  one 
was  returning.  Here  and  there  a  man  had  slipped  away 
and  strapped  on  his  pack,  and  was  climbing  upward,  cling- 
ing to  the  small  bushes,  working  slowly,  but  going  on  per- 
sistently. They  could  not  wait  a  moment  after  hearing  the 
stories  of  those  wonderful  pans. 

I  kneW'  we  were  too  tired  and  footsore  to  attempt  to 
make  the  climb  till  morning.  If  we  had  attempted  it  we 
should  probably  have  had  to  stop  somewhere  on  the  moun- 
tains without  water.  Still,  we  regretted  that  we  could  not 
push  on.  My  companions  showed  no  signs  of  being  sleepy, 
although  I  knew  they  needed  rest  like  myself.  Finally  w^e 
got  into  the  tent,  rolled  ourselves  in  our  blankets,  and  tried 
to  sleep,  but  every  once  in  a  wdiile  another  boat  would  scrape 
on  the  gravelly  beach,  and  more  men  would  come  up  and 
cook  a  meal,  or  hurriedly  shoulder  their  packs  and  scramble 
on  up  the  steep  trail. 

"While  I  lay  there,  almost  ready  to  drop  off  and  forget 
about  the  wonderful  pans,  I  heard  a  noise  in  the  tent.  Some 
one  was  moving  about.  But  I  recognized  the  sound.  I 
have  already  related  a  few  facts  concerning  the  Alaskan 
dog,  and  there  is  no  mistaking  that  peculiar,  gentle  sound  of 
a  pan  being  licked  by  a  "  huskie."  I  picked  up  a  hatchet 
and  threw  it  at  the  dark  object,  but  it  did  not  hit  him. 


MISSING  THE  MARK  251 

Nothing'  but  a  rifle  ball  would  liit  one  of  these  dogs.  The 
hatchet  made  a  big  hole  in  the  tent,  but  time  was  too 
precious  to  waste  in  sewing  it  up. 

Finally,  I  fell  asleep,  only  to  be  awakened  by  more  boats 
grinding  on  the  gravel,  more  Comanche  yells,  more  men 
clambering  up  the  mountain,  more  stones  rolling  down  to 
the  beach. 


CHAPTER  XYII 

MY  FIRST  TRAMP  IN  THE  KLONDIKE  GOLD  FIELDS  — 
WHAT  A  PLACE  FOR  GOLD!  — A  PEEP  INTO  THE 
SLUICE  BOXES  — I  STAKE  A  CLAIM. 

Preparations  for  a  Start  —  Over  the  Mountain  into  the  Swamps  —  A 
Hard  Tramp  —  Cranberries  to  Quench  Thirst  —  A  Mysterious  Pup 
—  The  Klondike  Valley  from  the  Summit  —  Glimpse  of  the  Arctic 
Rockies— "All  the  Goold  in  the  Worruld"— An  Old  Story  — 
Hurrying  On  —  On  Bonanza  Creek  at  Last  —  Calculating  the  Dis- 
tance—  Blowing  a  Little  —  Looking  for  Henry  Ward  Beecher  —  A 
Disgusted  Irishman  —  Too  Tired  to  Keep  On  —  A  Look  at  the 
Gravelly'  Bar  —  I  form  a  Poor  Opinion  —  Ready  to  Change  My 
Mind  —  Too  Tired  to  Care  —  Forgetting  One's  Name  —  Chilled 
Through  —  Nuggets  Fished  Out  vrith  a  Shovel  —  Washing  Out 
the  Gold  —  Objects  of  Suspicion  —  Pushing  on  for  a  Claim  —  Indi- 
cations Do  Not  Count  —  I  Stake  My  Claim  —  Starting  Back  in  the 
Rain  —  Over  the  Trail  Again  —  Our  Turn  to  Yell. 

BY  the  time  daylight  had  found  its  way  into  the  valley 
our  breakfast  was  disposed  of,  and  the  dishes  set 
away  out  of  the  reach  of  the  dogs.  We  cached, 
most  of  our  provisions,  and  fixed  in  small  packs  what  we 
deemed  necessary  for  the  next  few  days.  Then  we  set  out 
over  the  trail,  taking  our  turn  at  tearing  up  the  little  bushes, 
and  making  the  stones  rattle  down  the  mountain  side.  I 
had  become  accustomed  to  climbs  of  this  character  during 
the  summer,  and,  difficult  as  it  was,  I  could  by  this  time  re- 
gard it  as  quite  the  usual  thing.  IMy  companions  also  had 
good  muscles  and  lungs,  and  made  no  complaint.     Besides, 

(252) 


A  YUKON  BERRY  PASTURE  253 

there  were  those  stories  about  those  wonderful  pans  of  gold, 
and  there  was  no  time  to  lose  —  at  least,  that  was  the  way 
we  all  felt  about  it. 

After  going  half  a  mile  or  so  the  trail  became  less  pre- 
cipitous, and  undulated  through  a '  patch  of  wind-swept 
spruce  and  cottonwood.  The  ground  was  covered  with 
moss  of  that  large  variety  which  lies  all  over  the  Yukon 
valley  and  hills,  while  everywhere  were  clumps  of  cran- 
berry bushes,  the  berries  being  just  in  their  prime.  Huckle- 
berry bushes  also  abounded.  In  a  little  while  we  came 
to  a  swamp  with  a  wealth  of  hummocks.  The  water  in 
the  trail  was  over  ankle-deep,  but  there  was  no  use  trying 
to  walk  outside  of  it,  so  we  splashed  along,  and  soon  came 
to  comparatively  dry  ground  again.  Some  of  my  com- 
panions grew  very  thirsty  and  looked  about  for  water,  but 
none  was  to  be  seen.  That  in  the  swamp  was  not  fit  to 
drink.  On  we  went,  picking  a  few  cranberries  by  the  way 
to  relieve  thirst,  and  causing  the  grouse  to  flutter  from 
among  the  bushes,  for  berry  time  is  their  feasting  season. 

We  met  a  returning  party,  and  were  told  that  we  should 
find  a  spring  just  before  we  reached  the  summit,  but  we 
forgot  our  thirst  a  moment  while  they  told  more  tales  of 
the  great  strikes  of  gold  on  the  creek.  We  pushed  on, 
finding  no  spring;  others  came  down  the  trail,  and  some 
overtook  us.  We  saw  a  down-trail  man  take  an  up-trail 
man  to  one  side  and  evidently  whisper  some  advice.  Once 
I  heard  the  word  "pup  "  mentioned.  In  Yukon  parlance 
that  means  "  gulch."  Every  creek  has  its  pups,  and  if  any 
of  them  become  of  considerable  importance  they  may  have 
pups  also.  The  natural  conclusion  was  that  some  of  the 
prospectors  had  struck  it  rich  on  one  of  the  pups  of  the 
Bonanza.     Of  course,  I  was  then  in  utter  ignorance  of  the 


254        THE  GATEWAY  OF  THE  KLONDIKE 

nature  and  locality  of  that  particular  pup.  The  world  was 
to  learn  about  it  lat^r  on. 

AVe  finally  reached  the  longed-for  spring,  and  indulged 
in  a  little  rest,  for  we  greatly  needed  it.  People  never 
know  what  work  is  till  they  have  followed  an  Indian  trail 
in  Alaska  for  half  a  day.  As  we  hun-ied  on  again  to  the 
summit  we  encountered  returning  men  about  every  half 
mile,  and  they  told  of  ricli  prospects  being  found  in  different 
places  along  the  creek.  Some  of  them  thought  they  existed 
only  in  spots  and  on  the  rim-rock,*  otliei*s  were  sure  the  creek 
was  good  from  source  to  mouth.  jSTow  and  then  one  assured 
us  that  it  was  all  a  fraud,  and  that  the  men  who  claimed  to 
have  got  big  pans  never  got  them.  These  pessimistic  pros- 
pectors always  looked  weary  and  fagged  out,  and  I  knew 
they  had  had  no  breakfast,  and  perhaps  had  no  supper  the 
night  before,  and  probably  did  not  sleep  much.  In  the 
first  place,  doubtless,  they  had  met  poor  luck  in  panning  the 
surface  dirt,  and,  being  wdtliout  provisions,  they  had 
naturally  taken  a  very  gloomy  view  of  the  whole  subject. 

On  the  summit  we  dropped  down  exhausted  and  took 
another  rest.  As  we  toiled  upward  the  trees  had  become 
fewer,  more  scrubby  and  wind-swept,  and  at  the  top  they 
permitted  a  view  of  what  lay  about  us.  The  Klondike 
Valley  made  a  beautiful  picture  in  the-  foreground.  We 
looked  up  the  valley  and  could  see  the  windings  of  the 
silvery  thread  of  water  for  fifty  miles,  and  where  it  came 
out  of  a  gateway  in  the  mountains  fully  one  thousand  feet 
in  depth,  with  the  two  sides  so  exactly  alike  and  so  evenly 
inclined  that  one  could  hardly  help  believing  this  to  be  an 
engineering  feat  of  the  Titans.      Beyond  this,   and  one 

*  Rim-rock.  The  efl2:es  of  the  channels  worn  away  in  the  rocks  hy  streams 
of  former  ages.  W'ithin  these  channels  the  auriferous  detritus  was  accumu- 
lated. 


THE   SNOWY   GRANDEUR   OF   THE  ROCKIES  255 

Inmdred  miles  on  either  side  of  the  round-topped  moun- 
tains which  form  the  foothills  of  the  Rockies  now,  but  did 
not  once,  as  they  are  evidently  a  more  recent  formation  and 
upheaval,  lay  the  Rockies,  peaked  and  pinnacled  and  jagged 
beyond  description.  Every  ravine  visible  could  be  traced 
by  its  string-like  glacier,  and  as  you  followed  one  upward 
with  your  eye  you  could  see  the  side  ravines  coming  in  like 
branches  of  a  tree.  In  some  cases  these  branches  are  suf- 
ficiently numerous  to  give  the  appearance  of  an  outline 
drawing  in  chalk  of  a  leafless  tree. 

I  suppose  if  one  should  live  constantly  where  such  views 
were  ever  before  his  eyes,  they  would  become  commonplace 
enough.  When  at  home  in  Vermont  I  used  to  hear  of 
people  who  seemed  to  be  overcome  by  the  majesty  of  the 
White  Mountains,  and  who,  sitting  on  a  rock  on  Mt.  Wash- 
ington,would  break  out  with  one  of  David's  majestic  psalms. 
What  would  they  do  in  the  Arctic  Rockies  ?  They  are 
wonderful,  wheji  one  stops  to  look  and  to  think,  l)ut  these 
men  who  were  passing  up  and  down  over  the  trail  seldom 
did  such  a  thing  as  that.  Big  pans  of  gold  !  That  is  the 
vision  before  them,  and  one  who  lies  tired,  bruised,  and 
footsore  at  the  summit,  looking  oft'  on  the  wonderful  scene, 
cannot  hel]i  but  wish  that  the  Creator  had  put  all  the  gold 
away  down  deep  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  where  man  would 
never  have  known  of  it.  Doubtless  it  was  a  foolish  thought, 
for  that  yellow  metal  will  w^ork  wonders  on  the  mind  which 
may  be  unaffected  by  a  view  of  these  snowy  billows  of  the 
Arctic  Rockies.  The  Indians  have  been  going  over  such 
trails  all  their  days,  and  yet  they  are  the  dullest,  dirtiest, 
most  unemotional  creatures  under  the  sun. 

But  we  must  move  on  !  "NTever  mind  the  mountains  ! 
Tt  was  to  seek  the  golden  creek  and  its  pups  that  we  were 


'i56  A  GOLDEN  LEGEND 

eliiiiltiiig  over  tlicse  rocks,  and  we  forced  our  tired  muscles 
iuto  action  and  again  struck  into  the  traiL 

After  winding  along  on  the  summit  for  about  a  mile, 
we  began  the  descent,  which  is  gradual  for  a  half  mile  and 
then  becomes  steep,  then  steejier,  and,  further  on,  most 
steep.  xVgain  we  were  clinging  to  the  bushes  and  rattling 
doAvn  the  rocks.  As  we  descended  the  rain  began  to  fall 
—  one  of  those  Alaskan  drizzles,  in  which  water  takes  the 
place  of  the  atmosphere.  Nature  does  nothing  by  halves 
here.  The  trail  became  very  wet,  soft  and  slipjDery,  and  we 
slid  and  rolled  along  till  someone  declared  that  he  must 
rest.  All  were  willing,  and  we  crawled  under  the  limbs 
of  the  largest  spruce  we  could  find  and  tried  to  keep  out  of 
the  range  of  the  drops  from  its  branches. 

Presently  we  heard  someone  struggling  up  the  trail. 
Soon  a  rough  and  jovial  fellow  of  Hibernian  mould  came 
into  view. 

"  Are  ye  there,  b'yes,  and  have  ye  ary  a  match  ?  " 

We  had. 

"  And  wdiich  way  might  ye's  be  goin'  ?  "  he  asked,  as  he 
drew  at  a  pipe  of  over-moist  tobacco. 

"\Ve  pointed  down  the  mountain. 

'To  Bonanza,  is  it?  Begon-y,  ye'r  right.  I'm  after 
thinking  all  the  goold  in  the  woniild  is  down  there,  but  it's 
a  domned  rough  counthry." 

Oh,  yes;  he  had  a  claim,  but  he  had  not  worked  it.  He 
took  one  as  near  to  the  discovery  as  he  could,  set  up  his 
stakes,  and  ran  for  provisions,  like  most  of  the  others.  He 
had  no  idea  what  there  was  in  the  dirt  he  had  staked  off, 
and  he  would  not  have  for  Aveeks,  even  if  he  worked,  but  — 
"  all  the  gold  in  the  world  was  there."  I  had  heard  of  such 
places  before.     He  told  us  to  hurry,  as  there  w^ere  many 


—  UNPROMISING   BONANZA  CREEK  257 

ahead  of  us,  and  then  he  puffed  along  up  the  trail,  and  we 
straightened  up  and  slid  and  tumbled  along  down.  It  did 
not  matter  if  the  rocks  were  a  little  hard  and  sharp  when 
a  slip  was  made  and  one  of  us  came  down  with  undue  haste. 
We  were  going  to  a  place  where  there  was  all  the  gold  in  the 
the  world.     An  old  story. 

Finally  we  reached  the  bottom,  our  necks  still  unbroken. 
^Ye  were  not  at  Bonanza  yet.  It  was  only  one  of  her  pups 
which  crossed  the  trail,  something  as  yet  of  no  consequence. 
We  brewed  a  little  tea  and  ate  some  bread,  that  is,  we  called 
it  bread.  "  Anything  goes,"  as  the  gold  hunters  say,  in 
Alaska. 

Soon  we  pushed  on  towards  the  creek,  the  trail  being 
ankle-deep,  and  more,  with  slush  and  mud.  It  was  one  of 
those  tundra  bottoms,  which  at  a  distance  have  such  a  fine 
agricultural  aspect,  a  tract  of  "  niggerheads,"  and  to  walk 
across  such  a  place  is  one  of  the  most  fatiguing  exercises 
a  man  can  take.  Finally,  after  a  mile  or  so  of  it,  we  arrived 
at  Bonanza  Creek.  It  looked  very  little  like  a  gold-bearing 
stream.  A  little  washed  gravel  could  be  seen,  but  few 
glimpses  of  quartz  w^ere  to  be  had,  and  there  was  nothing 
at  all  that  an  old  miner  would  call  an  indication.  It  was 
no  wonder  that  prospectors  had  waded  and  tumbled  over 
these  places  and  left  them  in  disgust  to  the  Indian  hunters 
and  fishermen.  We  said  to  ourselves  that  if  anyone  had 
got  ten  dollars  to  the  pan  out  of  this  stuff,  there  ought  to  be 
a  million  tons  of  gold  within  twenty  miles  of  such  a  place. 

We  got  out  of  the  trail  —  if  there  was  one  —  and  had 
to  wade  the  creek  and  walk  the  banks;  then  wade  again, 
and  so  on  very  slowly,  watching  the  location  notices.  At 
last  we  found  one,  l^o.  64,  which  told  us  the  disiancc  to 
Discovery  Claim,  for  ten  and  a  half  claims  make  a  mile. 


258  A  DISCOURAGED  TENDERFOOT 

'1  hat  iiic-aiis  about  six  miles,  on  paper,  but  several  times 
that  Oil  foot. 

We  plodded  on,  climbed  over  rocks,  slid  down  rocks, 
tumbled  up  against  rocks,  and  met  two  men. 

"  Ho^v  far  is  it  staked  ?  "  I  asked,  in  a  weary  and  dis- 
gusted way. 

"  -Why, my  number  is  45 ;  several  men  ahead  of  you;  just 
stop  at  Discovery  and  look  in  the  sluice  box;  two  Siwashes 
packing  dirt  in  buckets;  George  shoveling  tailings." 

George  Cormack,  as  I  have  said,  was  the  discoverer  of 
gold  on  Bonanza  Creek.  AVe  thought  we  would  stop  and 
look  in  the  boxes,  if  we  ever  got  there. 

The  men  passed  on,  and  we  toiled  ahead  over  a  long 
tundra  bottom.  A  man  ought  to  find  "  all  the  gold  in  the 
world  "  to  compensate  him  for  such  a  tramp.  The  moun- 
tain trail  was  a  positive  delight  to  this. 

''  Say,  let's  blow  a  little,"  exclaime.d  one  of  our  com- 

Certainly  I  was  willing  to  "  blow  "  a  whole  lot  —  in- 
definitely. 

A  venerable  Irishman,  apparently  a  tenderfoot,  came 
plodding  along,  falling  over  hummocks  and  sinking  knee- 
deep  in  the  mud  beneath  the  weight  of  a  heavy  pack.  Alto- 
gether he  presented  a  most  discouraged,  and  disconsolate  ap- 
pearance. 

"  'Av  ye's  seen  onything  of  thot  man  Beecher  ?  "  he 
asked,  as  he  came  up. 

"  What  Beecher  ?  " 

"  Hinry  Wa-r-r-d  Beecher." 

"  Xo.      AVhat  do  you  want  of  him  ?  " 

"  I'd  loike  to  shpake  wid  'im  wan  minnit.  They  do  be 
tellin'  me  he  wunst  said  there  was  no  hell,"  and  he  dropj>ed 


WAY-WORN  PILGRIMS.  359 

his  heavy  pack  and  wiped  the  dripping  perspiration  from  his 
liushed  face. 

"  Is  it  gold  ye's  do  be  afther  here  ?  "  he  then  ateked. 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  with  as  little  enthnsiasni  as  possible. 

"  All  the  saints  help  ye!  "  and  he  shouldered  his  pack 
again  with  a  sigh  and  groan. 

The  last  number  noticed  was  somewhere  in  the  twenties; 
two  miles  and  more  from  George's.  One  of  the  men  said 
he  could  go  no  further  that  night.  I  looked  at  him  and 
thought  so  too.  lie  insisted  that  we  should  go  on  and  leave 
him,  but  right  down  in  my  heart  1  felt  like  doing  nothing 
of  the  kind.  I  was  tired  enough  myself.  He  looked 
thoroughly  exhausted,  and  I  doubted  if  he  would  have  had 
the  strength  to  make  a  fire  if  we  left  him.  It  was  almost 
dark. 

I  could  have  crawled  under  a  rock,  under  anything,  and 
gone  to  sleep  at  once,  but  his  condition  required  a  warm 
fire  and  a  hot  drink.  So  we  got  wood,  not  particularly  dry, 
made  a  roaring  fire  on  a  sandy  spot,  and  brewed  a  pot  of 
tea.     Then  we  shoved  our  feet  to  the  fire  and  meditated. 

I  thought  after  a  while  that  I  was  rested  a  little,  but 
when  I  tried  to  get  up  I  could  hardly  stand.  I  wanted  to 
take  a  look  at  a  gravelly  bar  a  few  yards  aw^ay  before  it 
l)ecame  too  dark,  so  I  hobbled  down  to  it,  and  found  nothing 
but  comminuted  micaceous  schist,  with  some  glassy  quartz, 
such  as  is  always  associated  with  these  stratified  schists  in 
sheets  and  intervening  layers.  The  mica  was  muscovite. 
and  T  thought  the  whole  arrangement  must  belong  to  the 
Silurian  age;  that  is,  I  thought  so  when  T  was  too  tired  to 
think  clearly  about  anything.  I  might  change  my  mind 
when  I  could  see  the  rocks  adjoining  these  schists.  But 
it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  to  me  whether  I  changed  my 
16 


•-2G0  DESPONDENCY   OF   WEARINESS 

iiiiiid  or  not.  If  I  did,  all  I  felt  like  asking  was  that  I  could 
do  it  lying  down.  I  began  to  believe  that  I  wouldn't  stand 
up  for  anything  —  not  even  for  my  native  land.  What  a 
place  for  gold  ! 

When  I  started  out,  I  regretted  that  Joe  was  not  with 
me  to  share  in  the  fortunes  of  the  great  strike,  but  it  would 
have  taken  many  days  to  reach  him  and  to  return.  Besides, 
I  knew  that  as  soon  as  these  stories  reached  Circle  City  there 
would  be  another  rush.  My  best  lay  was  to  push  in  and  get 
a  claim,  and  let  Joe  keep  on  working  his.  But  now  I  was 
glad  Joe  was  on  Birch  Creek.  Any  one  ^^'ho  had  seen  the 
diggings  on  Fort}^  ]\[ile,  and  on  the  tributaries  of  Birch 
Creek,  would  think  all  these  fellow^s  running  up  this  Klon- 
dike waste  had  been  driven  out  of  their  wits  by  the  mos- 
quitoes. I  could  dig  a  hole  two  feet  deep  in  this  stuff  wdth 
my  hands,  and  the  quicksand  would  run  right  in  and  fill  it 
i;p.  AVho  w^ould  think  that  such  loose  stuff  was  full  of 
gold?  I  thought  to  myself  that  I  Avould  not  wash  a  pan  of 
it  if  the  owner  would  give  it  to  me;  but  I  was  ignorant  as  to 
who  the  owner  was,  and  too  tired  to  care.  I  hobbled  back 
to  the  fire  and  thought  some  more.  AVe  were  all  thinking 
or  trying  not  to  think.     Xo  one  said  a  word. 

I  spoke  to  one  of  them  twice  before  he  answere-d.  He 
remarked  that  he  guessed  he  had  forgotten  his  own  name.  I 
was  not  surprised.  Pie  was  too  tired  to  remember  such  a 
trifle.  One  by  one  they  rolled  themselves  up  to  sleep 
almost  anywhere.  I  looked  around  for  a  soft  spot,  threw 
my  blankets  down,  and  myself  upon  them.  As  I  dozed  off 
the  words  of  the  Irishman  we  had  met  on  the  mountain, 
"  All  the  goold  in  the  worruld  is  there,"  ran  through  my 
brain  and  gradually  faded  into  indistinctness  as  sleep  over- 
came me. 


A  POCKETFUL   OF   NUGGETS  261 

"VVe  awoke  just  as  the  daylight  was  beginning  to  work 
its  way  into  the  valley,  and  found  that  we  were  chilled 
through.  A  white  frost  spread  over  everything,  but  after 
a  cup  of  hot  tea  and  a  little  bread  we  felt  better.  Sleep  had 
done  us  some  good  and  we  moved  on  up  the  trail,  making 
very  good  speed — as  speed  goes  on  an  Alaskan  trail.  About 
a  mile  from  George's  we  met  more  men,  and  one  of  them 
pointed  to  a  spot  where  he  had  washed  a  dollar  from  a  pan 
of  the  loose  stuff  he  called  gravel.  It  did  not  appear  to 
have  a  washed  pebble  in  it.  But  they  had  washed  it  out, 
and,  like  so  many  others,  were  rushing  back  after  pro- 
visions. 

At  last  we  reached  Discovery  claim,  where  George  was 
at  work.  We  took  a  look  in  the  sluice  boxes,  and  there  was 
certainly  plenty  of  gold  there.  Some  one  asked  him  why 
he  was  shoveling  the  tailings  up  on  to  the  hillside,  and  he  re- 
plied that  there  was  five  dollars  to  the  pan  wdiere  the  tailings 
dropped,  the  tailings,  be  it  understood,  being  the  refuse  dirt 
falling  at  the  end  of  the  sluice.  He  put  his  hand  in  one  of 
his  pockets  and  drew  out  three  nuggets  worth  about  twenty- 
five  dollars. 

*'  Fished  'em  out  of  the  bottom  of  the  creek  with  a 
shovel,"  he  said. 

"  Jimminy-crickets,"  observed  one  of  my  companions. 

I  thought  so,  too. 

"  Well,  I'll  be  hanged,"  said  another  newcomer.  He 
looked  like  a  fit  subject  for  the  operation.  Still,  we  all  did, 
for  that  matter.  After  one  has  traveled  a  little  in  the 
moose  tracks  of  such  a  region  as  this,  he  cannot  step  out  into 
a  civilized  community  in  the  same  clothes  without  being  an 
object  of  suspicion. 

We  picked  up  our  blankets  and  what  little  we  had  left 


262  INSPIRITING  REPORTS 

to  eat,  for  we  had  shared  witli  those  who  passed  us  on  the 
trail,  with  liardly  enough  to  keep  them  alive,  a  good  deal  of 
what  we  started  with.  They  were  in  a  hurry  and  had  al- 
ready staked  out  their  claims.  We  walked  back  a  ways  to 
cache  the  remnant,  far  enough,  one  would  suppose,  to  be 
out  of  the  reach  of  the  dogs  at  Discovery  claim,  but  if  we 
had  stopped  to  think,  we  were  aware  that  the  dogs  would  get 
at  it,  no  matter  how  far  we  went,  unless  it  was  put  up  high 
enough.  Still  one  always  has  a  natural  disposition  to  avoid 
building  a  cache  right  over  a  dog's  nose.  This  done,  we 
started  on  and  found  it  very  much  easier  without  our  packs. 
The  creek  bottom  gradually  became  wider  and  the  hills  on 
either  side  lower,  and  it  was  plainly  to  be  seen  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  rush  into  the  region  had  been  along 
there.  It  was  fair  to  presume,  therefore,  that  the  best  pay- 
dirt  would  be  found  there,  but  I  thought  to  myself  that 
there  is  no  telling  in  such  a  field  as  this.  Indications  do 
not  indicate,  in  the  Klondike.  The  only  thing  to  do  is  to 
stake  anywhere. 

After  a  wdiile  we  met  more  men,  who  said  that  the  creek 
was  at  least  staked  up  above  60.  One  man  infonned  us 
that  he  obtained  twenty-five  cents  to  the  pan  on  60.  The 
trail  wound  along  over  acres  of  tundra  flats,  and  I  thought 
what  a  fine  moose  pasture  it  was,  and  expected  to  see  a 
moose,  but  they  had  evidently  been  frightened  away  by  all 
these  people  rushing  in  here  and  digging  in  the  dirt.  There 
were  plenty  of  moose  tracks. 

As  we  passed  along  I  noticed  a  pup  which  seemed  to 
have  a  more  inviting  look  for  a  gold-seeker.  It  certainly 
appeared  more  like  a  gold  stream,  but,  of  course,  like  all  the 
rest  at  first,  we  rushed  with  the  herd.  Before  we  got  to  the 
fork  we  met  more  men  and  learned  that  it  was  staked  up 


TAKING   THE   CHANCES  263 

into  the  seventies.  The  trail  did  not  reach  above  the  forks. 
Even  the  moose  had  deemed  it  wise  to  go  somewhere  else. 

At  last  we  came  to  the  end  of  the  claims  and  added  ours, 
blazing  trees,  and  putting  up  our  notices.  Then  we  rested 
a  little,  and  looked  around.  We  had  no  pans,  and,  in  fact, 
did  not  think  of  washing  out  any  gold.  It  was  all  a  chance. 
Gold  might  be  there  and  it  might  not.  It  certainly  looked 
little  like  it.  Then  we  started  back  and  reached  our  caches 
at  dusk  in  a  rainstorm,  built  a  fire,  cooked  what  we  thought 
would  appease  our  appetites,  rigged  up  a  blanket  tent,  and 
went  to  sleep.  We  had  seen  the  place  where  there  is  "  all 
the  goold  in  the  worruld." 

We  felt  much  better  —  tolerably  well  in  the  morning. 
We  were  all  foot-sore,  but  a  little  breakfast  —  all  that  we 
had  left  —  with  some  strong  coffee,  straightened  us  up,  and 
we  were  ready  for  the  weary  tramp  back  to  the  river  over 
the  trail.  As  we  traveled  along  we  met  plenty  of  gold- 
seekers,  all  of  whom  asked  about  the  same  questions. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  we  told  them,  "  it  is  a  big  thing." 

We  had  no  gold  to  show,  but  we  told  them  about  the 
five-dollar  tailings,  and  the  nugg'ets  fished  out  with  a  shovel. 
We  noticed  a  few  men  on  their  claims,  but  they  were  cut- 
ting logs  for  houses  and  were  not  prospecting.  Some  were 
working  along  with  big  packs,  having  been  over  before,  and 
Avcre  now  getting  provisions  in  for  the  winter. 

Back  we  climbed  over  the  summit,  and  I  stopped  to  look 
again  at  the  picture.  The  sun  was  shining,  the  day  was 
quite  warm,  and  the  ground  was  dryer  than  when  we  went 
over.  We  could  lie  on  the  ground,  pick  berries,  and  eat  our 
fill.  When  at  last  we  arrived  in  sight  of  the  camp  on  the 
river  near  the  Indian  village,  we,  in  our  turn,  yelled  like 
Comanches  and  jumped  and  tumbled  down  the  hills  with 


264  ONE  DETAIL   OF   THE   PICTUKE 

the  rattling  rocks.  There  was  an  ever-accumuhiting  crowd 
there,  and  we  were  quizzed  and  "  pumped."  We  told  wliat 
we  knew,  which,  after  all,  was  very  little,  and,  as  when  we 
went  over,  we  noticed  that  here  and  there  a  man  slipped 
awav,  and  soon  we  heard  them  toiling  up  the  bluff  and  the 
rocks  came  rolling  back  down  to  the  bottom.  AVe  slept 
soundly  that  night,  and  I  would  not  have  had  energy  enough 
to  throw  a  hatchet  at  a  dog  if  one  had  tried  to  eat  up  the 
tent. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE  DISCOVERY  OF  ELDORADO  — THE  FOUNDING  OF 
DAWSON  —  CONFUSION  AND  QUEER  COMPLICA- 
TIONS OVER  CLAIMS —  "  THREE  INCH  WHITE." 

Resting  a  Little  —  Carrying  in  Provisions  —  Promising  Strikes  of  one 
of  the  Pups  —  Eldorado  —  Joining  Another  Stampede  —  A  New 
Metropolis — Joseph  Ladue  and  His  Career  —  Mining  in  the  Black 
Hills  —  Attracted  to  Alaska  —  Sinking  Holes  without  Success  — 
Faith  in  the  Country  —  Grub-staking  Henderson — How  Ladue 
Secured  the  Site  for  Dawson  —  His  Sawmill  —  The  Mines  in 
October  —  High  Price  of  Lumber  —  Rapid  Growth  of  Dawson  — 
Much  Confusion  as  to  Claims  —  Miners  Appointed  to  Measure  — 
Fractional  Claims  —  How  They  Came  About  —  The  Mystery  of 
the  Rope  — Hibernian  Bluff  —  Jim  White  and  His  Attempt  to 
Secure  a  Fractional  Claim  —  The  Canadian  Surveyor  Arrives  — 
"Three  Inch  White"— How  Claims  are  Staked  — The  Fees  and 
the  Requirements. 

WE  took  life  as  easy  as  circumstances  allowed  for 
tlie  next  two  or  three  days;  indeed,  we  made 
ourselves  think  we  were  actually  deriving  some 
pleasure  out  of  it,  for,  while  an  ever-increasing  number  of 
feverish  men  were  landing  on  the  gravel  beach  and  hurry- 
ing on  to  the  new  region,  and  an  ever-increasing  number 
were  returning  over  the  mountain  trail,  we  were  in  the  de- 
lightful position  of  having  staked  our  claims  and  of  hav- 
ing about  a  month's  provisions  at  the  foot  of  the  trail.  We 
could  feed  the  newcomers  with  interesting  stories  of  what 
we  had  seen,  and  hear  the  latest  news  from  those  who  were 

(265) 


206  "any  packing  is  cheap" 

eoinino-  out.  AVo  ate  as  niiu-li  as  wo  thought  we  couhl  ali'orcl 
to,  and  nursed  our  feet  a  little.  The  tow  on  the  river  and 
the  tramp  on  the  trail  had  been  a  severe  ordeal  for  them. 
As  the  time  was  fast  approaching  when  the  Yukon  would 
freeze  over,  and  running  ice  had  already  increased  the  dif- 
ficulties of  navigation,  many  participating  in  the  rush  de- 
termined to  wait  for  the  ice  so  they  could  sled  their  pro- 
visions up  the  creek.  In  fact,  quite  a  village  of  t€nts  was 
springing  up  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike. 

But  dragging  loads  over  the  rough  ice  of  these  rapid 
streams  is,  on  the  whole,  not  much  of  an  improvement  upon 
packing  over  a  mountain  and  swamp  trail,  so  at  the  end  of 
four  days  we  strapped  on  packs  three  times  as  heavy  as  those 
we  had  first  carried,  and  started  out.  It  makes  a  great  dif- 
ference in  carrying  a  pack  on  a  trail  whether  a  person  is  in  a 
hurry  or  not.  Having  our  claim,  we  could  afford  to  pro- 
ceed leisurely  and  rest  when  we  felt  like  it,  without  being 
harrassed  by  the  feeling  that  we  might  be  too  late.  We 
even  stopped  occasionally  to  break  up  a  rock  to  see  what  it 
was  made  of,  and  I  admired  the  scenery  to  my  heart's  con- 
tent. We  chatted  Avith  those  whom  we  met,  and  still  made 
about  as  good  headway  as  when  we  first  went  over,  and  we 
camped  at  the  same  places. 

Once,  while  we  were  resting,  a  party  of  Indians  carrying 
heavy  packs  overtook  us.  Following  them  came  the  owner, 
looking  very  weary  under  an  extremely  light  burden.  He 
said  he  had  hired  the  Indians  to  pack  his  supplies  over; 
"  and,"  he  added,  "  I  got  it  done  cheap,  too." 

"  How  much  a  pound?  "  I  inquired. 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  Then  how  do  you  know  it's  cheap?  " 

"  Oh,  any  packing  is  cheap  over  a  trail  like  this." 


AN  AMAZING   PANFUL  267 

When  we  approached  the  creek  again  we  learned  that 
big  strikes  liad  been  made  on  the  "'  pnp  "  that  had  looked  so 
l)roniising  to  me  on  onr  previons  trip,  and  that  I  had  been 
tempted  to  ascend  and  test.  It  seems  that  a  party  which 
had  rushed  in  when  the  news  of  the  Bonanza  was  noised 
aronnd  had  worked  np  the  creek  till  their  provisions  had  run 
out.  They  were  about  to  turn  back  and  go  to  the  nearest 
trading  post  for  provisions,  when  they  met  and  joined  an- 
other party  having  more  provisions  than  they  needed. 
While  they  were  cooking  their  supper  near  the  mouth  of 
the  pup,  one  of  them  suggested  that  they  walk  up  the  bed 
about  a  mile  and  wash  a  pan  of  the  gravel.  They  did  so, 
and  were  amazed  when  one  of  the  pans  yielded  over  six  dol- 
lars. They  at  once  staked  out  claims,  and,  returning,  told 
others.  This  had  been  the  significance  of  the  whispered 
communications  we  had  noticed  between  the  ]iarties  we  en- 
countered on  the  trail  when  we  first  came  over. 

We  resolved  to  go  up  the  creek  and  see  for  ourselves. 
So,  in  the  morning  we  pushed  on  and  camped  at  its  mouth. 
It  had  been  named  Whipple  Creek,  after  the  discoverer, 
and  no  longer  bore  the  obscure  name  of  "  pup."  I 
ascended  it,  and  found  some  men  washing  out  gold 
where  the  discovery  was  made,  and  I  washed  out  a 
pan  myself.  It  contained  about  a  dollar.  The  others 
seemed  to  get  about  the  same.  Going  on  up  the  creek, 
I  found  it  staked  for  much  more  than  half  its  length, 
and  I  concluded  that  I  w^ould  rather  hold  the  claim  I  had 
than  exchange  for  one  here.  Bonanza  and  this  new  creek 
were  in  the  same  district,  and  no  one  was  entitled  to  stake 
more  than  one  claim  in  a  district.  J^ot  long  afterward, 
parties  buying  some  claims  on  the  new  creek  named  El- 
dorado. 


'26S  A   NEW    METROPOLIS 

The  next  dav  we  heard  of  another  rush  for  creeks  in  an- 
other section.  AVe  joined  in  this,  too,  and  tramped  up  the 
Bonanza  to  the  forks  and  thence  over  the  mountain  to  Gold 
Bottom,  where  the  earlier  discoveries  of  Henderson  were 
made,  and  thence  down  to  Hunker  Creek,  to  which  tlie  new 
rush  was  directed.  Hunker  empties  into  the  Klondike 
about  twelve  miles  from  its  mouth.  By  the  time  we 
reached  there  the  creeks  were  well  staked,  and  so  we  went 
over  to  the  Indian  River  district  and  prospected  along  there 
for  a  day  or  two  without  remarkable  results.  The  snow 
began  to  fly,  and  we  finally  made  our  way  back  to  the 
Yukon  to  await  developments.  During  this  tramp  we  met 
the  same  obstacles  and  had  similar  experiences  to  those  re- 
counted in  the  previous  chapter. 

In  the  meantime  Ave  found  that  a  new  metropolis  had 
sprung  up  on  a  low  stretch  of  ground  on  the  banks  of  the 
Yukon,  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike.  A  clever 
man  could  see  that  this  flat  was  about  the  only  place  avail- 
able for  a  city  in  that  nigged  region,  and  there  was  a  clever 
man  there  who  saw  it.  In  fact,  the  honors  of  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  this  district  must  be  divided  between  Joseph 
Ladue,  who  had  fitted  out  Henderson,  of  whom  we  have 
spoken,  and  Cormack,  to  wliom  Henderson  told  of  his  find- 
ings on  Gold  Bottom  Creek.  At  the  veiy  time  Cormack 
was  washing  his  first  pans  of  gold  in  Bonanza  Creek, 
Ladue,  who  had  not  yet  heard  of  Cormack's  find,  was  com- 
ing down  the  Yukon  to  locate  a  town  site  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Klondike.     He  had  heard  from  Henderson, 

Joseph  Ladue  is,  as  his  name  shows,  of  French  extrac- 
tion, and  was  born  in  Plattsburg,  X.  Y.,  about  forty-four 
years  ago.  His  grandfather  was  a  French  Huguenot,  who, 
driven  from  home  in  the  early  persecution  of  bis  church, 


THE   YOUTH   OF  JOSEPH   LADUE  369 

settled  with  many  others  of  that  sterling  faith  in  Canada. 
He  removed  across  the  line  into  the  United  States  and 
located  at  Sclin jler  Falls,  abont  ten  miles  sontheast  of  Platts- 
burg,  where  Joseph  Ladiie  was  born.  His  mother  died  when 
he  was  seven  years  old,  and  his  father,  a  stone-mason,  mar- 
ried the  second  time.  Young  Joseph  Ladiie  was  strong  and 
active  for  his  years,  and  a  neighboring  family,  the  head  of 
which  was  James  H.  Lobdell,  took  a  liking  to  the  lad,  who 
had  found  some  things  not  altogether  to  his  liking  at  home, 
and  who  was  ready,  at  the  age  of  nine  years,  to  accept  the 
adoption  of  his  neighbor.  Joseph  was  therefore  brought 
up  under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Lobdell  and  his  wife  —  good, 
old-fashioned  Methodists  —  who  sent  the  young  man  to 
school  and  gave  him  work  on  their  farm  until  he  grew  to  an 
age  when  he  was  ready  to  look  out  for  himself.  Upon  the 
death  of  his  father  in  Iowa,  in  1874,  Joseph  decided  to  go 
"West  and  look  after  the  small  estate  of  his  parent. 

The  affairs  of  his  father's  estate  having  been  adminis- 
tered, and  his  attention  being  at  the  time  attracted  to  new 
discoveries  in  the  Rockies,  he  started  for  the  Black  Hills 
with  a  fixed  purpose  of  becoming  a  miner  of  gold.  He  ar- 
rived at  Deadwood  in  1876  with  about  one  hundred  dollars 
in  his  pocket,  full  of  grit,  industry,  honesty,  and  determina- 
tion. The  town  was  enjoying  a  boom,  and  the  young  man 
at  once  started  in  for  himself  by  securing  little  jobs  as  a  con- 
tractor for  moving  houses  and  doing  other  public  work. 
Meanwhile  he  was  constantly  on  the  watch  for  better  em- 
ployment, his  ambition  being  to  secure  a  place  in  a  quartz- 
mine.  The  only  place  he  could  find  came  in  about  a  month 
in  the  shape  of  a  job  as  engineer  in  the  mine  at  four  dollars 
per  day.  The  young  man  had  never  run  a  steam-engine, 
and  was  utterly  unfamiliar  with  mechanics,  but  his  natural 


270  GAINING  EXPERIENCE 

aptitude  stood  liim  in  good  stead,  and  he  accepted  the  ])hice 
and  for  eigliteen  months  held  it  successfnlly. 

In  1878  he  was  advanced  to  the  position  of  foreman  or 
superintendent  of  the  "  night  shift "  of  miners  in  the 
famous  Hidden  Treasure  mine,  which  was  a  most  profitable 
producer  of  gold.  His  pay  was  now  five  dollars  per  day, 
and  he  spent  all  his  leisure  time  in  studying  the  secrets  of 
gold-mining.  Mr.  Ladue  so  thoroughly  familiarized  him- 
self with  gold-mining  that  he  was  fully  competent  for  al- 
most any  task  that  might  be  oifered  him,  and  he  was  soon 
offered,  and  accepted,  the  place  of  superintendent  of  a  sixty- 
stamp  gold-mill  at  the  wages  of  ten  dollars  per  day.  After 
a  year  in  this  employment  he  decided  to  strike  out  to  make 
a  fortune,  and  for  some  years  followed  the  adventurous  life 
of  a  prospector  in  Arizona  and  Xew  Mexico.  He  there 
found  several  promising  prospects,  and  for  one  of  these,  in 
ISTew  Mexico,  which  subsequently  failed  to  meet  his  expecta- 
tions, he,  unfortunately  for  himself,  refused  an  offer  of 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

After  two  years  of  this  hard,  but  practical,  experience, 
he  decided  to  strike  for  the  newly-discovered  mining  coun- 
try in  the  British  Northwest  Territory  adjoining  Alaska. 
He  made  the  long  and  tedious  journey  to  Juneau,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  prospectors  in  that  new  country.  He  then 
passed  over  into  the  interior,  and  it  is  a  sigiiificant  fact  that 
he  was  hunting  for  gold  as  early  as  1882  within  six  miles 
of  the  present  rich  mines  of  the  Klondike.  H  he  found 
little  gold  then,  he  acquired  a  great  faith  in  the  richness  of 
the  country  and  in  its  future.  He  did  not  fully  explore  the 
valley  of  the  Klondike,  because  it  was  his  belief  as  an  ex- 
perienced miner  that  it  was  not  of  the  right  sort. 

"Wlien  Schwatka  made  his  famous  voyage  on  a  raft  down 


PUSH   AND   PLUCK  371 

the  Yukon  in  1883,  he  ran  across  Ladue  at  Charley's  Vil- 
lage. With  a  partner  he  was  prospecting  the  streams  in 
that  vicinity,  which  is  about  fifty  miles  above  where  Circle 
City  was  founded  later.  Ladue  was  familiarly  known 
among  the  Indians  as  "  Joe,"  and  he  was  in  great  favor 
among  them. 

For  fourteen  years,  with  a  determination  that  never 
faltered,  and  a  confidence  in  his  ultimate  success  that  was 
never  diminished,  Ladue  lived  in  the  dreary  wilds  of  the 
Xorthwest.  LTp  to  five  or  six  years  ago  his  headquarters 
were  at  old  Fort  Reliance.  Every  year  he  added  to  his  capi- 
tal by  prospecting  and  trading,  until  at  last  a  business  open- 
ing presented  itself  in  the  purchase  of  a  profitable  sawmill 
at  Fort  Ogilvie,  forty-five  miles  up  the  Yukon  from  Fort 
Reliance. 

Here  the  enterprising  young  man  remained  for  five 
years,  earning  money  and  carefully  saving  it,  but  his  faith 
in  the  golden  resources  of  Alaska  never  abated.  He  met  a 
young  Xova  Sootian  prospector  named  Robert  Henderson, 
in  1893.  Henderson  was  about  the  same  age  as  Ladue, 
and  in  the  solitary  wilderness  of  the  frozen  IsTorth  they  es- 
tablished a  warm  and  lasting  friendship.  For  three  years 
the  thrifty  Ladue  furnished  the  necessary  implements,  tools, 
and  provisions  of  a  prospector  to  Henderson  — "  grub- 
staked "  him,  in  the  mining  vernacular.  Indications  of  gold 
were  found  in  many  places,  but  nothing  of  great  value  until 
one  day  Henderson  came  into  Ladue's  sawmill  camp  radiant 
with  smiles  and  carrying  a  small  bottle.  He  held  it  up  to 
Ladue,  filled  witli  bits  of  yellow  metal.  It  was  the  gold  he 
liad  panned  out  of  Gold  Bottom  Creek,  one  of  the  tributaries 
of  tlie  Klondike.  This  was  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  of 
August,  1896.     On  his  way  to  Ladue,  Henderson  had  told 


272  THE   RISE   OF  DAWSON 

Corniack,  a.-^  already  related,  and  Cormack,  on  tlic  twenty- 
sixth,  as  the  story  goes,  made  liis  strike  on  Bonanza  Creek. 

Ladue,  who  knew  only  of  Henderson's  find,  saw  that  his 
time  had  come.  His  keen  eye  for  business  was  Avide  open 
now.  He  did  not  rush  into  the  gold-diggings,  for  he  fore- 
saw the  enormous  value  of  the  town  site  at  the  place  where 
he  knew  that  a  prosperous  city  must  be  located.  He  sent 
Henderson  with  four  horses  and  four  men  back  across  the 
country  eighty  miles,  to  the  new  gold-fields.  He  himself 
took  a  raft  loaded  with  lumber  and  went  down  the  Yukon 
by  the  quickest  route,  landing  August  28th,  and  located  the 
town  site  of  Dawson  City,  on  the  only  site  in  that  rugged 
country  that  had  been  left  open  for  it.  He  built  a  store  and 
hastened  to  Tort  Cudaliy,  forty-five  miles  distant,  to  make 
the  ofiieial  entry  in  the  British  Land  Office.  Having 
secured  this  great  prize,  he  looked  over  the  gold  country  and 
carefully  selected  and  quickly  purchased  some  of  the  richest 
claims  that  could  be  found.  He  built  a  sawmill,  which  was 
soon  running  day  and  night,  and  earning  a  little  fortune 
every  twenty-four  hours,  in  a  region  where  the  timber  limit 
extended  fifteen  miles. 

Thus  was  Dawson  started.  AVhen  the  gold  strikes  were 
made,  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  there  were  not  half  a 
dozen  white  people  in  the  Klondike  Valley.  In  a  month 
there  were  a  thousand.  The  lumber  mill  did  a  big  business, 
and  Ladue  made  thousands  of  dollars  by  selling  cheap  pine 
lumber  to  the  minei"s  at  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars  the 
thousand  feet.  The  increasing  cold  made  no  difference  to 
the  crazy  miners  at  Dawson  City  and  in  the  cabins  along 
Eldorado  and  Bonanza  Creeks.  By  October  about  six 
hundred  claims  had  been  staked  out  up  and  down  both  sides 
of  the  creeks.     The    Canadian    mining    laws    made    five 


HUSTLING   TIMES  275 

hundred  feet  along  the  creek  or  river  bank  a  single  claim, 
and  one  man  was  allowed  to  locate  but  one  claim  in  each 
district. 

Putting  up  a  cabin  in  Dawson  was  expensive  business. 
Logs,  which  in  that  region  means  poles  from  four  to  six 
inches  in  diameter,  sold  generally  from  four  dollars  to  eight 
dollars  apiece.  A  man  really  needed  almost  as  much  money 
as  he  would  to  put  up  a  brownstone  residence  in  New  York 
in  order  to  secure  a  building  which  would  have  any  of  the 
comforts  of  a  home.  The  timber  had  to  be  hauled  about 
twenty  miles,  and  the  so-called  hotels,  which  were  soon 
open,  were  little  more  than  moderate-sized  log  houses,  ad- 
mitting of  a  few  box-stalls.  People  who  arrived  late  had  at 
once  to  set  about  finding  a  way  to  protect  themselves  from 
the  winter  blasts. 

What  a  hustling  there  was  for  lumber  to  build  shanties 
and  cabins  !  It  was  growing  colder  every  day,  and  many 
men  paid  over  two  hundred  dollars  the  one  thousand  feet  for 
lumber.  Laborers  that  got  a  few  dollars  a  day  in  August 
now  were  snapped  up  at  fifteen  and  eighteen  dollars  a  day. 
The  native  Indians  sold  fur  garments  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  each,  or  for  some  gewgaws  that  were  more 
precious  there  than  diamonds  are  here.  Lots  were  soon 
selling  in  Dawson  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  up 
to  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 
pany and  the  Ts'orth  American  Transportation  and  Trading 
Company  quickly  prepared  to  concentrate  their  forces  and 
supplies  there.  Moose  meat  was  sixty  cents  a  pound,  and 
all  canned  goods  seventy-five  cents  per  can.  The  com- 
panies adopted  a  cash  system,  and  carried  as  large  a  stock  as 
could  be  brought  up.  The  government  consisted  of  a  gold 
commissioner  and  the  chief  of  the  mounted  police.     T^ew 


'^76  MEASURING   CLAIMS 

enterpriijC'^  t^praiig  up  every  day,  and,  of  course,  the  saloon 
predominated. 

iS'aturally,  in  such  a  rush  of  business  and  fever  of  spec- 
ulation, there  existed  much  confusion.  Men  who  had  been 
in  a  chronic  state  of  drunkenness  for  weeks  had  been  pitched 
into  boats  as  ballast  and  taken  u^  to  stake  themselves  a 
claim,  and  claims  were  staked  by  men  for  their  friends  who 
were  not  in  the  country  at  the  time.  All  this  gave  rise  to 
much  contiiction  and  confusion,  there  being  no  one  to  take 
charge  of  matters.  The  land  agent  not  being  able  to  go 
up  and  attend  to  the  thing,  and  the  Canadian  surs^eyor  not 
knowing  what  to  do,  the  miners  held  a  meeting  and  ap- 
pointed one  of  themselves  to  measure  off  and  stake  the 
claims,  and  record  the  owners'  names,  for  which  he  got  a  fee 
of  two  dollars,  it  being,  of  course,  understood  that  each 
claimholder  would  have  to  record  his  claim  with  the  Do- 
minion agent,  and  pay  his  fee  of  fifteen  dollars. 

Just  how  it  happened  no  one  seems  to  know,  but  it  was 
said  that  the  men  who  were  selected  to  measure  the  claims, 
somehow  slid  in  a  forty,  instead  of  a  fifty,  foot  rope,  thus 
making  the  claims  considerably  short.  Others  have  an 
idea,  w^hich  is  not  entirely  without  reason,  that  when  the 
claims  were  first  staked  off,  the  excited  miners,  being- 
anxious  to  secure  all  the  room  possible,  would,  in  their 
measurements,  which  were  sometimes  made  at  night,  stretch 
the  line  a  little.  The  one  taking  the  next  claim  would  be- 
gin where  his  predecessor  left  off,  and  stretch  his  line  more 
or  less,  according  to  his  sense  of  morality. 

However  it  happened  there  was  considerable  uncer- 
tainty, and  the  miners  finally  petitioned  the  Dominion  land 
surveyor  to  come  ur>  to  Bonanza  Creek  at  once  and  settle 
the  complications  that  were  arising.     One    of    the    late 


A   GREEDY   PROSPECTOR  377 

arrivals  was  an  Irishman,  who,  when  he  found  he  could 
not  secure  a  claim,  went  np  and  down  the  creek,  trying  to 
bully  the  owners  into  selling,  boasting  that  he  had  a  "  pull  " 
at  Ottawa  and  threatening  to  have  the  claims  cut  down 
from  five  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  He  came 
along  one  day  and  offered  to  wager  two  thousand  dollars 
that  within  a  year  they  would  be  reduced  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet.  One  of  the  men  to  whom  he  had  made  this 
offer  went  to  the  Dominion  surveyor  and  asked  about  it. 

"  Do  you  gamble  ?  "  asked  the  surveyor. 

"A  little,"  was  the  reply. 

Then  the  surveyor  told  him  that  he  was  never  surer 
of  two  thousand  dollars  than  he  would  have  been  if  he  had 
taken  that  bet. 

This  ran  to  such  an  extent  that  the  surveyor  put  up 
notices  to  the  effect  that  the  length  of  the  claims  was  regu- 
lated by  act  of  the  Parliament  of  Canada,  and  that  no 
change  could  be  made  except  by  that  Parliament,  and  tell- 
ing the  miners  to  take  no  notice  of  t4le  threats  that  had  been 
made. 

A  fellow  kno\vn  as  Jim  White  located  a  fraction  be- 
tween jSTos.  36  and  37,  thinking  that  by  getting  in  between 
he  could  force  the  owners  to  come  to  his  terms,  forgetting 
that  the  law  of  this  country  does  not  allow  any  man  to  take 
more  than  he  has  a  right  to.  For  three  or  four  days  this 
state  of  things  kept  the  men  in  an  uproar.  The  surveyor 
was  making  his  survey,  and  getting  towards  i^os.  36  and  37; 
when  he  approached  them  he  delayed  operations  and  wont 
up  to  Xo.  36,  finding  there  would  be  no  fraction,  or,  at  least, 
an  insignificant  one  of  inches. 

He  worked  along  slowly,  and  in  the  moaiitiiiic  flic  owner 
of  Xo.   36  became  very  uneasy,  and  White  also.     The 
17 


278  FIVE   INCHES   FOR  FIVE   HUNDRED   DOLLARS 

officer  set  in  a  stake  down  in  the  hollow  iintil  he  saw  how 
much  of  a  fraction  there  was.  It  was  only  a  few  inches. 
He  was  purposely  very  deliberate  with  this  portion  of  the 
work,  and  the  man  who  was  with  him  seemed  to  have  quite 
a  ditiiculty  in  fi>;ing  the  stake.  Then  the  officer  went  down, 
with  the  remark  that  he  would  do  that  himself.  He  had 
made  it  a  rule  never  to  tell  anyone  Avhether  there  was  a 
fraction  until  it  was  marked  on  the  post. 

AVhile  he  was  standing  by  the  post  Jim  White  came  up 
to  him.  He  had  a  long  way  to  go  down  the  creek,  he  said 
—  and  lie  did  not  want  to  wait  any  longer  than  w^as  neces- 
sary. 

"  Well,"  said  the  surveyor,  "  I  can't  tell  you  just  yet 
exactly  how  much  of  a  fraction  it  will  be  —  but  something 
about  three  inches." 

This  is  why  -Jim  came  to  be  known  as  "  Three  Inch 
White." 

He  resurveyed  the  whole  group  of  claims,  and  the  result 
was  a  lot  of  fractional  claims,  which  were  open  to  entry. 
This  occurred  at  about  the  time  some  of  the  later  arrivals 
of  the  early  winter  were  looking  for  places,  and  they 
gTabbed  these  fractional  claims  on  the  rich  creeks  as  fast  as 
they  were  declared  open.  These  fractions  varied  all  the 
way  from  three  inches  to  forty  feet,  and,  were  valued  accord- 
ingly. Of  course,  no  one  could  w^ork  the  narrower  ones, 
but  they  were  desirable  property  to  the  adjacent  o^vners, 
who  either  bought  them  outright  or  formed  a  partnership 
with  their  owners.  In  one  case  it  Avas  reported  that  a  frac- 
tional claim  of  five  inches  sold  for  five  hundred  dollars,  after 
the  richness  of  the  adjacent  claim  had  been  determined. 

In  locating  a  claim  on  Canadian  creeks,  a  man  is  sup- 
posed to  measure  five  hundred  feet  the  way  the  valley  lies. 


LOCATING   A  CLAIM  279 

and  then  run  across  from  base  to  base  of  the  foot-hills,  or 
from  rim-rock  to  rim-rock.  It  must  be  marked  by  four 
legal  posts  at  the  corners.  Posts  must  be  at  least  four  inches 
square.  One  post  must  be  marked  "  initial  post,"  and  on 
that  post  a  written  notice  must  be  placed,  stating  number, 
length,  and  general  direction  of  claim,  the  date  of  notice, 
and  name  of  locator.  All  placer  claims  must  be  recorded 
in  the  mining  recorder's  office  of  the  mining  division  in 
which  such  claims  are  situated  within  three  days  after  loca- 
tion thereof,  if  within  ten  miles  of  the  mining  recorder's 
office;  but  one  additional  day  is  allowed  for  each  addi- 
tional ten  miles.  The  recorder  must  be  furnished  with 
the  following  particulars  in  writing:  ISTame  of  claim, 
name  of  locator,  number  of  free  miner's  certificate,  local- 
ity of  claim,  length  in  feet,  period  for  which  record  is 
required,  date  of  location.  Placer  claims  may  be  re- 
corded for  one  or  more  years  on  payment  of  fees  —  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  each  year.  After  the  miner 
has  located  and  recorded  his  claim,  he,  or  some  one  on  his 
behalf,  must  work  it  continuously  during  working  hours; 
and,  if  unworked  on  working  days  for  a  period  of  seventy- 
two  hours,  except  during  sickness  or  for  some  other  reason- 
able cause,  the  claim  will  be  considered  abandoned  and  for- 
feited. Leave  of  absence  for  one  year  may,  however,  be  ob- 
tained by  any  free  miner,  upon  his  proving  to  the  gold  com- 
missioner an  expenditure  equal  to  one  thousand  dollars  in 
cash,  labor,  or  machinery  on  a  claim,  without  any  return  of 
gold  or  other  minerals  in  reasonable  quantities. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

RICH^'ESS  OF  THE  KLONDIKE  GOLD  FIELDS  —THE  GREAT 
WINTER  EXODUS  FROM  CIRCLE  CITY  — FIRST  RE- 
SULTS FROM  TESTING  PANS  — MINERS  WILD  WITH 
EXCITEMENT. 

Realization  of  the  Richness  of  the  Klondike  Claims  —  Why  old  Miners 
were  Skeptical  —  How  Teuderfeet  Suddenly  Became  Rich  —  Selling 
Claims  at  Low  Figures  —  Cutting  Logs  to  Get  Provisions  —  El- 
dorado All  Staked  —  Great  Stroke  for  Some  Men  —  Circle  City 
Skeptical  —  The  First  Big  Pans  —  Excitement  at  Circle  City  —  A 
Mad  Stampede  —  Scarcitj' of  Dogs  —  Dogs  at  $2.50  Per  Pound  — 
Some  Big  Strikes  —  Grumbling  Canadians  —  Bed-Rock  on  El- 
dorado—  Lippy's  Bargain  —  Nothing  Like  It  in  the  History  of  the 
World  —  Pans  of  Dirt  AYorth  Five  Hundred  Dollars  —  The  ]\Iiners 
Simply  Staggered  —  Mrs.  Berry  Picks  up  $50  in  Nuggets  While 
Calling  Her  Husband  to  Supper  — Scarcity  of  Labor  —  Hunting  up 
Claims — Gold  Everywhere  —  Opening  Up  New  Territory. 

IT  was  many  weeks  before  anyone  had  a  proper  realiza- 
tion of  the  richness  of  the  newlv-discovered  placers, 
and  for  a  long  time  all  the  excitement  was  confined  to 
Bonanza  Creek  and  its  tributary,  Eldorado.  Those  who 
staked  claims  were,  of  course,  met  with  the  same  conditions 
imposed  upon  all  placer  mining  in  Alaska.  There  were 
several  feet  of  frozen  muck  and  gTavel  to  be  worked  out 
of  the  way  by  the  slow  process  of  burning  before  anyone 
could  say  what  lay  at  bed-rock,  and  many  old  miners  who 
had  been  over  the  ground  laughed  at  the  idea  of  rich  placei-s 
in  such  a  locality,  and  did  not  even  take  the  trouble  to  join 

(280) 


GOLD   ALMOST  EVERYWHERE  281 

in  the  rush,  while  others  who  did  looked  about  in  a  know- 
ing way  and  departed  without  staking  any  claims. 

Stampedes  had  occurred  so  often,  and  had  so  generally 
proved  unprofitable,  that  the  old  miners  had  become  weary 
of  them.  They  had,  in  their  more  tenderfooted  days, 
rushed  from  Forty  Mile  to  Sixty  Mile,  to  Beaver  Creek,  to 
Birch  Creek,  and  a  lot  of  other  creeks,  in  which  the  Yukon 
Valley  abounds.  The  fact  w^as  that  there  was  some  gold 
almost  everywhere,  and  when  anyone  stumbled  on  a  spot 
containing  a  particularly  rich  deposit  near  the  surface,  there 
was  the  natural  temptation  to  believe  that  the  whole  creek 
was  made  up  of  such  material.  The  miners  had  become 
so  tired  of  this  unsettled  state  of  things,  the  fatiguing  jour- 
neys, and  loss  of  time,  that  they  were  disposed  to  regard  with 
discredit  any  reports  of  rich  finds,  and  when  they  heard 
that  "  Siwash  George  "  had  struck  gold  on  the  "  Thron- 
diuck,"  it  was  enough  to  make  the  soberest  of  them  laugh. 
Even  had  Cormack's  reputation  for  truth  and  veracity  been 
first-class  they  would  have  doubted  the  value  of  his  dis- 
coveries on  the  creeks  of  a  river  which  they  had  so  often 
prospected  without  success.  They  just  lay  back  and 
allowed  the  tenderfeet  to  rush  in  and  stake  to  their  heart's 
content  up  and  down  this  moose  pasture,  and  that  is  the 
reason  why  so  many  old  miners  were  "  left,"  and  why  so 
many  new-comers  suddenly  became  rich. 

But  there  were,  as  I  have  said,  a  great  many  miners 
about  Forty  Mile  and  adjacent  diggings  who  had  be(>n  work- 
ing in  poor  luck  and  were  sick  and  discouraged  of  the  whole 
country.  These  constituted  the  greater  part  of  those  who 
first  rushed  into  the  Klondike.  It  was  to  them  a  last  chance, 
merely,  and  a  mighty  poor-looking  one  at  that.  They  had 
nothing  better  to  do,  and  so  rushed  in. 


282  CLAIMS  BOUGHT  AT   BARGAIN   SALES 

Yet  the  way  they  sold  their  claims  in  the  first  weeks 
succeeding  the  stampede  is  evidence  of  their  lack  of  faith  in 
them.  The}'  had  no  money,  or  very  little.  Two-thirds  of 
all  the  claims  could  have  been  bought  in  September  by 
those  who  would  have  provided  "  grub  "  for  the  claimants 
for  the  winter.  As  some  of  the  poorer  ones  were  unable 
to  raise  on  their  claims  sufficient  provisions  to  enable  them 
to  go  to  work,  they  sold  out  cheap  to  anyone  who  came 
along  with  a  little  dust.  Claims  which  were  afterwards 
worth  thousands  could  have  been  picked  up  by  the  dozen  in 
September  and  October  for  a  hundred  or  two  dollars.  Many 
were  sold,  and  old  miners  who  had  clambered  over  the  trail 
and  staked  considered  themselves  exceedingly  fortunate  in 
receiving  that  small  amount,  and  congratulated  themselves 
that  by  their  rush  they  had  at  least  made  enough  to  pro^dde 
themselves  with  a  small  supply  of  winter  provisions.  They 
knew  that  to  hold  their  claims,  build  a  cabin,  and  convey 
their  tools  and  supplies  over  the  rough  trails  to  the  new 
creeks  would  cost  them  several  hundred  dollars,  and  that 
the  claims  must  yield  something  over  ten  dollars  a  day  to 
pay  at  all  for  working  them.  They  had  not  a  particle  of 
belief  that  the  creeks  would  yield  such  a  return.  They 
looked  with  pitving  eyes  on  the  tenderfeet  who  were  greed- 
ily acquiring  claims  in  the  new  district,'  and  were  confident 
that  in  the  coui^se  of  the  winter  they  w^ould  discover  the 
difficulties  of  working  placers  in  Alaska,  and  in  the  spring 
would  somehow  work  their  way  out  into  other  districts  with 
no  money  and  little  to  eat,  sadder  and  wiser  men. 

Only  a  few  men  remained  on  the  creek  after  staking. 
Most  of  them  came  back  to  Dawson,  where  affairs  were 
already  becoming  lively,  and  either  sold  out  or  wont  to  work 
for  what  thev  could  get.     Even  the  discoverer,   Siwash 


TAKING   A  BEE   LINE  283 

George,  had  been  compelled  to  cut  logs  for  the  new  mill 
before  he  could  get  a  few  pounds  of  provisions  to  enable 
him  to  begin  work  on  liis  claim.  The  fishing  having  totally 
failed  him,  he  got  together  as  many  provisions  as  he  could, 
and  in  the  first  part  of  September,  with  his  wife,  his  Indian 
brother-in-law,  and  another  Indian,  he  set  out  for  his  dig- 
gings. He  was  short  of  appliances,  and  managed  to  put  to- 
gether only  three  lengths  of  sluice-boxes,  a  very  defective 
apparatus,  to  wash  what  gravel  he  could  before  the  ground 
froze  up  completely.  The  gravel  itself  he  had  to  carry  in 
a  box  on  his  back  for  a  hundred  feet.  Notwithstanding  all 
this,  it  was  soon  reported  that  he  had  washed  out  one 
thousand  four  hundred  dollars  by  the  first  of  October,  and 
it  was  known  that  he  had  as  yet  come  nowhere  near  bed- 
rock. 

Up  to  this  time  the  rush  had  not  been  so  great  as  to  take 
up  all  the  available  claims  on  the  creek,  but  the  news  was 
reaching  both  down  and  up  the  river,  and  boat  loads  of  men 
continued  to  arrive.  Once  landed  they  made  a  bee-line 
over  the  mountain.  One  of  the  greatest  rushes  was  soon 
after  T  returned  from  the  creek,  and  soon  after  the  discovery 
of  Eldorado.  The  little  steamer  Ellis  landed  with  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  excited  men,  who  poured  over  the 
trail.  Eldorado  was  staked  in  a  jiffy,  and  many  of  these 
turned  out  to  be  the  lucky  ones.  They  set  about  making 
preparations  for  the  winter,  such  as  building  cabins  and 
getting  ready  to  sink  holes  on  their  claims.  The  pans 
averaged  about  three  dollars,  with  prospect  of  improvement. 

What  a  stroke  this  was  for  some  of  the  men  may  be 
seen  from  a  single  instance.  One  of  the  men  on  the  boat 
had  come  from  a  little  village  in  Oayuga  County,  ISTew 
York.     He  was  a  cash  boy  in  a  Buifalo  dry  goods  house 


284:  A  FORTUNE  AT  LAST 

ten  ycai-s  ago,  and  went  "West  as  a  tramp,  riding  on  freight 
cars,  lie  learned  something  abont  mining  in  tlie  gokl  dis- 
trict of  California,  and  more  in  a  spirit  of  recklessness  and 
adventure  than  anything  else,  he  joined  the  Yukon  mining 
rush  in  1894.  He  had  a  temble  experience  with  cold  and 
hunger  for  two  yeai-s,  and  suffered  more  in  that  time  than 
many  men  do  in  a  lifetime  of  hardships.  He  was  too  poor 
to  go  back  to  the  United  States,  and  so  he  stayed  on  the 
Yukon.  He  tried  gold  mining  in  fifty  different  spots,  and 
lived  on  half  raw"  salmon  for  days  at  a  time.  He  said  he 
was  about  to  commit  suicide  in  September,  when  he  realized 
that  another  long  and  dreadful  winter  was  beginning.  A 
friend  told  him  to  go  up  to  Klondike  and  make  one  more 
trial  anyhow,  for  there  were  iiimors  at  Fort  Yukon,  where 
he  was  at  the  time,  that  the  diggings  were  good  on  the  Klon- 
dike. He  sold  his  rifle  for  passage  on  the  last  boat  on  the 
river  before  navigation  closed.  In  two  weeks  he  had  made 
his  claim  to  five  hundred  feet  along  Bonanza  Creek  and  was 
working  in  the  cold  and  ice  to  get  out  the  golden  nuggets. 
When,  the  following  spring,  he  went  back  to  the  United 
States,  he  had  with  him  about  thirty-five  thousand  dollars, 
and  he  had  worked  but  thirty  feet  of  his  claim. 

Although  news  of  the  finding  of  gold  on  the  Klondike 
and  of  the  rush  there  had  made  its  way  down  to  Circle  City, 
it  at  first  created  little  attention.  A  few  miners  who  were 
in  straits  came  up  on  the  boat,  but  the  majority  remained, 
and  Circle  City  began  the  winter  as  lively  a  town  as  ever. 
On  November  23d  a  man  by  the  name  of  Rhodes,  located  at 
jSTo.  21,  above  the  Discovery,  on  Bonanza,  obtained  as 
high  as  sisfty-five  dollars  and  thirty  cents  to  the  pan. 
This  was  the  first  large  pan  of  any  importance,  and  Dawson 
was  thrown  into  a  blaze  of  excitement.     The  news  spread 


AN   EXODUS   FROM   CIRCLE   CITY  285 

up  and  down  the  river  like  wild-fire,  and  more  men  hastened 
in.  Some  of  the  old  miners  who  had  gone  away  without 
staking  began  to  come  back.  In  a  little  time  the  news 
reached  Circle  City,  but  nobody  would  believe  it.  Yet 
this  claim  on  Bonanza  was  the  one  which  really  proved  the 
value  of  the  district.  The  owner  was  in  the  habit  of  clean- 
ing up  a  few  tubfuls  of  dirt  every  night  in  his  cabin  and 
getting  en'ough  to  pay  his  workmen  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar 
and  fifty  cents  an  hour.  In  that  way  he  discovered  the 
richness  of  the  dirt.  Melting  water  enough  to  pan  out  gold 
under  cover  was  a  slow  process,  but  he  found  that  the  soil 
paid  him  to  do  it.     Others  began  to  adopt  similar  methods. 

Claim  JSTo.  5,  Eldorado,  next  produced  a  pan  of  fifty- 
seven  dollars.  This  was  succeeded  by  one  of  upward 
of  eighty  dollars.  Then  came  one  of  one  hundred  and 
twelve  dollars.  Soon  after,  claim  No.  16  showed  up 
a  pan  of  two  hundred  and  twelve  dollars,  and  this  it  was 
that  caused  the  intense  excitement  in  that  country.  The 
news  went  down  to  Circle  City  early  in  December,  and  it 
at  once  emptied  itself  and  came  up  to  Dawson.  The  scenes 
of  the  Forty  Mile  rush  were  repeated.  The  miners  came 
up  any  way  they  could,  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night, 
with  provisions  and  empty-handed. 

It  was  a  great  day  in  Circle  City,  so  they  said,  when 
the  news  of  the  Klondike  richness  came  with  such  force  and 
authenticity  that  even  the  skeptical  old  miners  began  to 
believe  it  and  quietly  made  their  plans  to  go  up  the  river.  It 
Avas  carried  down  by  J.  M.  Wilson,  of  the  Alaska  Commer- 
cial Company,  and  Thomas  O'Brian,  a  trader,  and  they 
also  had  with  them  some  of  the  Klondike  gold.  When  it 
was  seen  that  a  few  were  starting,  of  course,  nothing  more 
was  needed.     It  at  once  grew  into  a  stampede.      The  price 


286  DOGS  SOLD  BY  THE  POUND 

of  (logs  jumped  almost  out  of  sight.  In  a  few  days  tliey 
were  so  valuable  that  they  began  to  be  sold  by  the  pound, 
first  at  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  pound,  and  then  as  high 
as  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  One  man  told  me  that  he 
saw  one  dog  sold  for  twenty  ounces  of  gold  dust,  and,  as  in 
trade  an  ounce  is  worth  seventeen  dollars,  the  dog  sold  for 
thi"ee  hundred  and  forty  dollars.  The  purchaser  was  de- 
termined to  go,  and  he  had  the  money.  He  was  bound  to 
have  dogs  no  matter  what  they  cost.  It  was  a  melancholy 
time  for  the  Circle  City  saloon-keepers,  who  saw  the  signs 
of  prosperity  vanish,  but  many  of  them  joined  in  the  rush 
for  the  new  diggings.  It  was  a  melancholy  time,  also,  for 
those  who  had  failed  to  go  up  when  the  river  was  open,  and 
now  had  not  the  means  to  buy  the  fancy-priced  dogs,  for  they 
were  too  wise  to  think  of  setting  out  without  at  least  four 
months'  provisions,  and  it  required  dogs  to  drag  that  quan- 
tity over  the  rough  ice  of  the  Yukon  in  the  face  of  the  biting- 
blasts  of  the  dead  of  winter.  Yet  it  was  the  greatest  ex- 
odus that  was  ever  known  on  the  Yukon.  As  many  as  four 
hundred  men  and  women  worked  their  way  up,  and  none 
of  them  lost  their  lives,  though  several  had  their  faces  and 
toes  frozen. 

Dawson  fairly  leaped  into  importance.  By  the  time 
the  Circle  City  contingent  arrived  greater  discoveries  had 
been  made,  and  the  value  of  the  diggings  surpassed  all  the 
dreams  of  the  most  sanguine.  But  locations  on  the  Bonanza 
and  Eldorado  had  been  staked  weeks  before.  A  good  many 
Canadians  and  othere  who,  at  Circle  City,  had  out-Ameri- 
caned  the  natural,  native-born  Americans  in  their  protesta- 
tions and  professions  of  Americanism,  came  up  to  Dawson, 
which  is  in  Canadian  territory,  in  this  rush  with  certain  ex- 
pectations in  realizing  something  in  the  new  finds  by  reason 


SURPASSING  RICHNESS  287 

of  their  nationality,  and  made  lond  professions  of  loyalty, 
cnrsed  their  hiek,  and  declared  it  strange  indeed  that  a  Cana- 
dian or  a  Briton  conld  not  get  a  foot  of  gronnd  in  his  own 
country. 

In  December  bed-rock  was  reached  on  Ko.  14,  El- 
dorado, and  dirt  of  surpassing  richness  was  found.  Other 
holes  began  to  go  down  in  a  hurry  —  that  is,  as  fast  as  the 
slow  process  of  burning  them  out  would  admit.  Pans  were 
taken  out  occasionally  and  tested,  reaching  from  five  to  a 
hundred  dollars,  and  yet  the  workers  could  scarcely  believe 
it.  They  had  an  idea  that  they  must  have  struck  an  un- 
usually fine  piece  of  dirt.  In  a  hole  eighteen  feet  deep, 
on  Eldorado  Creek,  two  men  struck  a  pay-streak  that  went 
five  dollars  to  the  pan  on  the  average  of  the  testing  they  gave 
it,  and,  without  knowing  it,  they  went  on  shoveling  out 
into  the  dump  dirt  which  was  rich  in  gold. 

Many  of  those  going  in  early,  of  course,  had  endeavored 
to  secure  claims  on  Bonanza,  but  they  could  not  be  had,  so 
they  rushed  up  the  Eldorado.  When  Professor  Lippy,  one 
of  the  fortunate  ones,  arrived  there,  this  creek  was  staked 
up  to  ISTo.  36,  and  he  took  that.  But  a  man  who  had  staked 
No.  16  wished  to  go  further  up  the  stream,  and  they  ex- 
changed. When  Lippy  first  struck  the  rich  pay-dirt  on  his 
claim,  the  man  he  had  traded  with  was  "  joshed  "  by  the 
boys  without  mercy.  He  looked  rather  sober,  but  he,  too, 
could  laugh  after  all,  for  his  claim  turned  out  to  be  very 
valuable. 

It  was  difficult  for  anyone  to  realize  the  richness  of  the 
dirt,  and  even  late  in  the  winter  claims  were  sold  for  a  price 
ridiculously  low,  considering  what  was  in  them.  The 
miners  were  continually  expecting  to  meet  a  linn't  to  the 
richness.     Einally,  pans  as  n*ch  as  five  hundred  were  dis- 


288  THE  NEW   GOLDEN  RULE 

covered,  and  nuggets  containing  gold  worth  as  higli  as  two 
linndrcd  and  thirty-five  dollars  were  bronght  to  light. 
Claims  jumped  up  enormously  in  price,  but  still  many  sold 
out  for  a  small  fraction  of  the  value  of  dirt  that  lay  in  the 
frozen  dumps  which  they  had  so  laboriously  dug  out  of  the 
earth.  Xothing  in  the  history  of  the  world  had  ever  been 
found  to  equal,  or,  in  fact,  to  anywhere  near  approach  the 
yields  taken  from  pans  gathered  indiscriminately.  In  an 
early  day  in  California  the  best  claims  ever  discovered  had 
run  but  thirty-five  to  forty  cents  a  pan,  and  these  were  con- 
sidered marvels  of  richness.  Alder  Gulch,  in  Montana, 
had  been  thought  for  years  to  have  contained  the  richest 
gravel  ever  dumped  into  a  sluice-box,  but  even  that  was  in- 
significant when  compared  with  not  only  one  but  many  of 
the  claims  on  these  two  tributaries  of  the  Klondike,  which 
was  worked  in  a  haphazard  fashion. 

But  what  was  thought  to  be  a  profitable  season  in  those 
days  could  scarcely  equal  a  few  days'  work  in  the  new  El- 
dorado. Think  of  a  pay-streak  nine  feet  thick,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  wide,  and  five  hundred  feet  long,  every  pan  of 
which,  so  far  as  could  be  ascertained  by  sinking  prospect 
holes  to  bed-rock  in  various  parts  of  the  claim,  would  contain 
over  one  dollar  in  gold,  some  of  them  as  high  as  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  Xor  was  this  the  exception,  but  the  rule. 
On  one  of  the  Bonanza  claims  a  doubting  Thomas  was  asked 
to  go  down  the  shaft,  pick  a  pan  of  dirt  at  random,  and  then 
test  it  himself.  He  did  so,  and  with  a  pan  and  small  pros- 
pector's pick  he  dug  out  a  piece  of  gravel  on  the  very  upper 
edge  of  the  pay-streak,  then  another  small  amount  a  foot 
lower  down,  then  more  was  taken  still  lower  down  from 
the  opposite  wall  of  the  shaft,  and  so  on  until  the  pan  was 
filled  bv  the  time  bed-rock  was  reached.     Ascending  to  the 


"BEYOND  THE  DREAMS  OF  AVARICE"      389 

surface,  ice  was  melted  until  sufficient  water  was  secured  to 
wash  the  gravel,  and  with  his  own  hands  the  contents  were 
panned  out.  The  task  was  of  but  few  moments'  duration, 
and  his  doubts  were  entirely  removed,  as  at  the  bottom  of 
the  pan  was  found  enough  gold  to  more  than  cover  a  ten 
cent  piece,  and  it  weighed  two  dollars  and  twenty-seven 
cents. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  dirt  that  averages  ten  cents 
to  the  pan  is  considered  very  rich,  Avhat  must  it  be  when 
it  runs  four  and  five  dollars  to  the  pan?  On  No.  6,  El- 
dorado, all  the  men  that  could  be  had  were  given  employ- 
ment during  the  winter  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents 
an  hour,  and  some  fifteen  or  twenty  prospect  holes  were 
sunk  to  bed-rock,  and  the  pay-streak  located  for  a  width  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  averaging  three  feet  in 
thickness  the  full  length  of  the  claim.  Pay-dirt  was  en- 
countered immediately  under  the  muck,  which  in  that  local- 
ity is  about  nine  feet  thick,  running  from  eight  to  twenty- 
five  cents  to  the  pan,  but  the  pay-streak  was  not  considered 
to  have  been  struck  until  seventy-five  cent  dirt  was  reached. 
Pans  taken  from  the  bed-rock  on  this  claim  simply  staggered 
the  miners,  as  they  not  unfrequently  ran  as  high  as  one 
hundred  and  fifty  and  two  hundred  dollars. 

The  owner  of  this  claim,  Clarence  Berry,  worked  his 
claim  more  extensively  than  most  proprietors,  and  his  ex- 
penses ran  as  high  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  day. 
He  settled  with  his  employes  every  evening  after  working 
hours,  using  only  a  pan  and  some  water  secured  by  melting- 
ice  to  wash  out  the  amount  necessary  to  pay  his  labor.  One 
evening  when  Mrs.  Berry  came  down  from  the  cabin  to  call 
her  husband  to  supper,  while  waiting  for  him  to  come  up  the 
shaft,  she  picked  up  over  fifty  dollars  in  coarse  gold  and 


200  ONE   DIFFICULTY    IN   WORKING    CLAIMS 

nuggets  that  were  lying  loose  in  the  gravel  just  as  it  came 
from  bed-rock,  not  five  minutes'  time  being  occupied  in 
doing  it. 

The  effect  of  sucli  results  as  this  in  the  camps  along  the 
creeks  was  to  make  it  practically  impossible  for  an  owner 
of  a  claim  to  secure  men  to  help  in  working  them. 
Some  old  miners  would  not  work  for  any  price.  Sometimes 
it  was  possible  to  rope  in  a  newcomer  and  get  him  to  work 
for  a  few  days  for  fifteen  dollars,  and  a  few  old  miners 
worked  on  shares  for  a  time  and  made  good  money,  but 
they  soon  dropped  this  to  hunt  up  claims  of  their  own.  It 
is  impossible  to  work  these  Yukon  placers  successfully 
without  help. 

The  result  was,  that  while  many  of  the  claim-owners 
were  lying  idle  waiting  for  someone  to  work  their  ground, 
the  men  who  were  competent  to  do  it,  because  they  under- 
stood the  process  and  had  the  necessary  provisions,  were 
prospecting  among  the  creeks  to  see  what  they  could  find. 
In  the  end,  perhaps,  nothing  was  lost  by  it,  for  it  served  to 
open  up  a  much  larger  district  than  anyone  had  supposed 
possible,  and  other  creeks  came  forward  to  share  the  honors 
with  Bonanza  and  Eldorado. 


CHAPTER   XX 

WINTER  IN  THE  KLONDIKE  —  CAMP  LIFE  AND  WORK  — 
A  MINER'S  DOMESTIC  DUTIES  — CHRISTMAS  IN  A 
GOLD-SEEKER'S  CAMP. 

Dreariness  of  Camp  Life  —  Preparations  for  Winter  —  Cut  Off  from 
the  World  —  Even  Labels  Make  Interesting  Reading  Matter  —  The 
Only  Library  in  the  Camp  —  A  Few  Old  Newspapers  —  Nuggets 
for  the  Benefactor  —  Joe  Arrives  from  Circle  City  —  Gold,  Gold 
the  one  Topic  of  Interest  —  Forgetting  the  Day  of  the  Month  — 
Domestic  Duties  —  How  We  Kept  House  — Things  That  Must  Not 
Be  Neglected  —  A  Remedy  that  Kills  or  Cures  —  My  Bread  and 
Biscuit  —  A  New  Recipe  —  Exorbitant  Prices  for  Necessaries  of 
Life  —  Some  of  the  Other  Expenses  —  A  Trip  to  Dawson  —  A  Bit 
of  Recreation  —  Christmas  in  Camp  —  Story  of  a  Christmas  at  Fort 
Cudahy  —  No  Turkey  or  Plum  Pudding  —  A  Klondike  Christmas 
—  Presents  for  the  Half-Breeds  —  How  Toys  were  Obtained  —  A 
Scene  of  Merriment  —  A  Yukon  Santa  Claus  —  First  Christmas 
Party  on  the  Klondike. 

THERE  is  but  one  thing  more  dreary  than  camp  life 
and  work  in  the  gold-bearing  placers  of  the  regions 
of  the  Arctic,  and  that  is  camp  life  and  work  in  the 
same  regions  when  the  placers  bear  no  gold.  There  is  less 
difference  than  one  might  suppose.  It  is  undoubtedly  a 
great  relief  to  feel  all  the  time  that,  as  a  result  of  hard 
drudgery,  rich  dirt  is  being  heaped  up,  and  that  in  the 
spring,  after  the  long  winter  night  is  over,  shining  gold 
dust  and  nuggets  will  buy  some  consolation  in  a  milder 
region  where  life  is  worth  living.  If  there  were  no  use  for 
gold  except  to  spend  it  in  Alaska,  none  of  it  would  be  dug 

(291) 


292  IN   THE   BUSY   SOLITUDE 

there.  It  is  a  splendid  ooimtry  to  leave  whether  one  has 
gold  dust  or  not. 

When  the  middle  of  October  came  we  were  nearly  cut 
off  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  Of  course  we  heard  from 
Circle  City  and  Forty  Mile  occasionally,  through  those  who 
came  into  the  Klondike  during  the  winter.  Immediately 
after  the  discovery  and  my  short  stay  at  the  mouth  of  the 
creek,  I  had  taken  an  opportunity  to  send  word  to  Joe,  ad- 
vising him  to  come  up,  as  I  thought  the  prospects  looked 
promising,  and  meanwhile  I  set  to  w^ork  to  construct  a  place 
in  which  w^e  could  make  life  endurable  for  the  winter  on  my 
claim.  It  was  nothing  more  than  a  liut  backed  up  into  a 
crevice  in  the  side  hill,  but  I  had  neither  the  time  nor 
the  means  to  pur  together  anything  more  substantial. 
By  a  liberal  use  of  moss,  which  is  the  cheapest  article  in 
Alaskan  regions,  I  flattered  myself  that  I  was  at  least  pro- 
viding for  myself  a  warm  place,  even  though  the  logs  were 
green  and  the  ground  of  the  cabin  frozen. 

As  the  nights  lengthened,  loneliness  settled  down  like  a 
pall  over  the  desolate  gulch.  The  snow  fell  nearly  every 
day,  mantling  the  great  frowning  hills.  It  was  a  scene  of 
solitude,  and  a  time  of  deep  silence  broken  only  by  the  wail- 
ing of  the  wind  through  the  little  spruce  trees  scattered 
about  on  the  hillsides.  Miners,  muffled  up  in  their  thick 
winter  clothing,  passed  up  and  down,  and  I  had  some  neigh- 
bors on  the  creek^  but  there  was  little  time  for  sociability. 
liearly  every  one  was  busy  working  to  bed-rock,  setting 
their  cabins  to  rights,  or  getting  their  provisions  up.  When 
the  few  rich  strikes  had  been  made,  all  who  could  redoubled 
their  efforts  at  their  own  shafts.  When  digging  for  gold 
"with  a  feverish  rusli  and  attending  to  household  duties  be- 
sides, there  is  little  time  for  sociability,  and  we  were  too  busy 


z  < 


THE   CONTRIBUTION   BOX  295 

to  think  of  the  outside  world.  It  would  have  done  us  little 
good  if  we  had,  for  there  were  no  mails  that  we  knew  of. 
According  to  the  established  regulations, mails  were  sup- 
posed to  be  brought  in  from  Juneau  every  six  weeks,  but 
time-tables  are  of  uo  value  in  these  regions  any  more  than 
they  are  for  the  Yukon  boats.  iSTo  one  wrote  letters,  and 
there  was  hardly  a  bit  of  reading  matter  in  the  whole  camp 
except  the  labels  on  some  of  the  boxes  in  which  provisions 
came.  If  one  wishes  to  realize  how  interesting  they  can  be, 
let  him  camp  in  a  gulch  somewhere  in  latitude  sixty-four, 
M^orth  America.  A  trademark  on  a  pick  handle  becomes 
fairly  eloquent  in  that  solitude.  Two  fellows  named  Dick 
Butler  and  Charley  Myers  had  been  prospecting  in  the  coun- 
try for  some  time,  and  a  friend  of  theirs  in  Seattle  one  day 
had  the  forethought  to  wrap  up  a  few  newspapers  and  send 
them  in  by  one  of  the  slow  mails.  These  boys  had  about 
the  only  library  in  the  diggings  in  those  old  Seattle  papers, 
and  the  miners  congregated  from  all  the  creeks  and  read 
them,  advertisements  and  all.  One  day  when  a  crowd  was 
in  the  cabin  Butler  said : 

"  Boys,  I  don't  min^  your  reading  the  papers,  but  I 
think  you  ought  to  remeiuber  the  fellow  who  sent  them  to 
me.  I'm  going  to  put  up  a  little  contribution  box,"  and  he 
left  a  bottle  near  the  papers.  They  did  not  forget  it,  and 
dropped  in  their  nugfl|(sts.  When  in  the  spring  the  bottle 
was  sent  to  the  Seattle  friend  it  contained  nearly  four  hun- 
dred dollars'  worth  of  the  shining  nuggets. 

After  Joe  arrived  with  a  part  of  the  Circle  City  con- 
tingent, life  became  a  trifle  plcasantcr  for  me,  for  it  was 
easier  getting  along  and  we  could  talk,  though  he  was 
naturally  uncommunicative.  But  wlicn  men  who  never 
liad  more  than  a  few  hundred  dollars  all  their  lives  are  faced 
18 


^96  THE   ONE   TOPIC   OF  INTEREST 

A\itli  the  prospect  of  making  a  few  hundred  every  day,  they 
are  too  restless  to  converse,  or  to  think  of  letters  or  reading 
matter.  Gold,  gold  was  the  one  topic  of  interest  in  that 
gulch.  There  were  fires  to  build  from  the  pitch  pine,  and 
then  when  the  ground  had  been  tha^ved  and  loosened,  the 
alluvial  was  dug  out  and  put  in  piles,  either  in  a  warm  cabin 
or  left  out  to  freeze.  Then  the  fires  would  be  started  again, 
and  more  digging  would  follow.  Then  on  alternate  days 
ice  was  melted,  and  the  water  used  for  panning  the  gold. 
Sometimes  a  half  ton  of  gravel  would  be  worked  over  in  a 
day  by  those  anxious  to  get  out  the  rich  metal.  It  grew 
dark  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  lamps  and  candles 
were  lighted.  Then  there  was  water  to  be  made  by  melting 
ice  and  snow  for  washing  and  drinking  purposes,  besides  a 
round  of  domestic  duties  in  our  cabins. 

It  A\'as  hard  work  day  after  day.  We  never  knew  when 
Sunday  came,  and  there  were  constant  disputes  as  to  the  day 
of  the  month.  We  had  no  time  for  games  or  for  mel- 
ancholy, for  we  were  all  so  weary  from,  hard  work  when 
night  came  that  sleep  at  once  overcame  us.  In  December 
and  January  there  was  scarcely  any  light,  and  very  little 
work  was  done.  Some  miners  built  their  cabins  over  their 
claims,  and  by  building  a  hot  fire  in  the  cabin  kept  the 
ground  more  or  less  thawed  all  the  time.  They  would  go 
down  through  the  floors  of  their  habitations  to  dig  gold 
from  the  ground  some  fifteen  feet  'or  more  below.  How 
tired  exery  one  got  of  canned  food  and  salt  meats !  ]\Iany  a 
time  that  winter  I  would  often  have  gladly  given  one  hun- 
dred dollars  in  nuggets  for  a  slice  of  beefsteak.  It  did  seem 
at  times  as  if  all  the  riches  we  were  taking  out  were  not  to  be 
compared  with  even  the  lowliest  home  in  civilization. 

Domestic  duties  were  by  no  means  light  for  two  hungry 


ACTIVITY   OF   THE   ALASKAN   APPETITE  397 

men  during  that  dark  winter,  when  the  thermometer  reg- 
istered far  below  zero,  honr  after  hour,  and  day  after  day. 
It  was  easy  enough  to  make  beds  in  Alaskan  diggings  — 
your  sleeping  bag  can  be  chucked  anywhere  except  out 
doors  —  but  making  a  fire  or  making  bread  is  a  different 
matter.  Some  of  the  most  trivial  precautions  are  neglected 
at  one's  peril.  In  their  eager  pursuit  of  the  golden  dirt,  too 
many  of  the  tenderfeet  that  winter  neglected  to  perfonn 
those  little  duties  which  were  necessary  for  comfort,  and 
which  unperformed  might  lead  them  to  within  an  inch  of 
losing  their  lives.  Every  day,  as  regularly  as  it  came 
around,  I  shaved  splinters  from  the  wood  that  we  had  cut, 
to  be  dried  on  the  Yukon  stove  for  starting  the  fires  the 
next  day.  Without  these  dried  splinters  it  was  next  to  im- 
possible to  start  a  fire  when  everything  was  covered  with 
snow. 

It  was  a  question  whether  the  gold  dust  or  some  of  the 
bread  made  in  that  camp  had  the  greater  specific  gravity. 
It  is  fortunate  that  in  such  a  climate  the  digestive  organs 
are  equal  to  almost  anything.  They  will  seize  with  avidity 
the  coarsest  and  hardest  material,  and  clamor  for  more. 
There  is  no  possibility  of  getting  the  appetite  into  a  less 
active  state,  so  that  food  will  stay  by  a  little  longer.  It  is 
like  a  roaring  lion  seeking  what  it  may  devour.  A  winter 
in  the  Arctics,  devoted  to  digging  dirt  out  of  a  frozen  hole, 
is  the  only  complete  dyspepsia  cure  I  ever  saw.  It  will 
either  kill  or  cure ;  indeed,  it  can  do  both. 

I  became  quite  an  expert  in  making  bread,  which  in 
Alaska  always  means  baking-powder  bread  or  biscuit. 
Some  miners  brought  in  a  little  yeast  and  tried  to  raise 
bread  in  that  way,  but  it  was  soon  discarded  for  baking- 
powder.     My  method  was  simple.     I  would  take  a  quart 


298  COOKING   SCHOOL  METHODS   IGNORED 

of  flour,  throw  in  a  couple  of  tablespoonfiils  of  baking- 
powder  and  about  a  half  a  teaspoonful  of  salt,  and  mix  till 
quite  stiff  with  water,  which  had  to  be  previously  obtained 
by  melting  snow  or  a  fragment  of  a  glacier.  Then  I  would 
grease  the  tin  with  the  best  grease  that  was  obtainable,  and 
which  usually  was  veiy  poor ;  but  little  things  like  that  are 
not  worth  a  passing  thought  in  an  Alaskan  camp.  Having 
a  red-hot  fire  in  the  little  Yukon  stove,  I  would  push  the  tin 
into  the  oven,  and  in  half  an  hour  take  out  a  loaf  of  bread 
which,  in  the  ravenous  condition  of  our  appetites,  would 
make  our  eyes  water.  The  only  difficulty  was  that  a  loaf 
would  disappear  at  eveiw  meal,  so  that  as  long  as  our  supply 
of  flour  continued  abundant  I  was  compelled  to  bake  two  or 
three  times  a  day. 

At  evening,  and  that  meant  whenever  we  decided  to 
quit  work,  for  it  was  night  nearly  all  the  time,  I  would  often 
make  a  few  biscuit,  though  sometimes  we  were  so  tired  that 
we  would  eat  something  cold  and  immediately  go  to  sleep. 
My  biscuit  were  concocted  by  nearly  the  same  formula  as 
my  bread.  Having  put  a  quart  of  flour,  two  tablespoon- 
fuls  of  baking-powder,  and  a  half  teaspoonful  of  salt  to- 
gether, I  would  mix  it  while  dry  vdth  lard,  if  I  had  any,  but 
more  commonly  with  bacon  fat.  This  I  stirred  in  with 
water,  and  rolled  out  the  stiff  dough  on  the  smooth  side  of  a 
slab.  The  rolling  pin  I  had  manufactured  from  a  section  of 
a  spruce  pole.  Then  I  would  cut  the  dough  into  circles 
with  the  top  of  a  baking-powder  tin,  and  bake  about  fifteen 
minutes. 

But  while  we  could  eat  enough  of  these  to  make  a  meal 
in  any  ordinary  climate,  they  were  used  only  to  piece  out,  as 
it  were.  They  had  to  be  accompanied  witb  ?ome  such  staple 
article  of  diet  as  flapjacks,  or  bacon,  and  beans  or  oat  meal. 


UNVARIED   BUT   COSTLY  DIET  29<J 

ISTo  game  came  witliin  sight  during  that  long  winter,  and 
we  were  too  busy  to  look  for  it  till  our  provisions  began  to 
run  out  and  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  any  more. 

The  prices  we  had  to  pay  for  some  of  the  mere  neces- 
saries of  life  would  drive  the  ordinary  housewife  into 
nervous  prostration.  I  have  spoken  of  my  biscuits  and 
bread  as  a  great  success,  and  so  they  were  for  the  country, 
but  they  were  always  hampered  by  the  quality  of  the  flour. 
For  this  stale  commodity  we  paid  sixty  dollars  for  a  hundred- 
pound  sack.  Codfish  cost  us  forty  dollars  per  hundred 
pounds,  pork  sixty  cents  a  pound,  bacon  eighty  cents. 
Sugar  was  sold  only  in  twenty-five-pound  lots  for  eighteen 
dollars.  There  were  a  few  potatoes  to  be  had  for  sixty-five 
dollars  a  hundred  pounds,  and  we  had  very  few  of  them. 
Dried  fruits  ranged  from  seventy  cents  to  a  dollar  a  pound. 
ISTow,  when  you  consider  that  a  man  could  barely  keep  his 
appetite  easy  on  four  pounds  of  provisions  a  day,  you  will 
appreciate  the  fact  that  high  living  is  not  always  indicated 
by  the  size  of  the  bill. 

Of  this  monotonous  diet  of  stale  and  canned  stuff  two 
men  disposed  to  be  economical  would  require  about  five 
dollars'  worth  a  day  to  be  even  tolerably  comfortable. 
Think  what  a  variety  of  dainties  in  the  way  of  food  they 
could  revel  in  "  back  in  the  States."  The  miners  of  the 
Yukon,  by  the  way,  always  refer  to  the  United  States  as 
"  back  in  the  States";  and  that  word  "  back  "  is  significant. 
It  indicates  the  feeling  which  is  unconsciously  uppermost 
in  the  hearts  of  the  majority,  the  purpose  to  get  "  back." 
They  are  only  waiting  for  the  gold,  and  the  old  fellows  avIio 
have  been  in  these  regions  so  long  have  stayed  because  they 
failed  to  find  enough  gold  to  make  them  a  comfortable 
fortune  over  and  above  what  it  cost  them  to  winter.      And  a 


300  TRAMPING   DOWN  TO   DAWSON 

good  many  have  staved  because  they  could  not  find  gold 
enough  to  enable  them  to  get  out. 

The  prices  which  provisions  commanded  were  far  from 
being  the  only  expense.  Common  flannel  shirts  were 
eagerly  bought  at  sixteen  dollars  each,  while  rubber  boots, 
that  are  absolutely  necessary  for  placer  mining,  sold  for 
forty  dollars  a  pair.  Moreover,  it  required  something  like 
thirty  cords  of  wood  for  each  man  to  work  his  claim  during 
the  season,  and,  if  this  were  not  cut  from  the  claims  by  the 
men  themselves,  it  had  to  be  hauled  from  Dawson.  On 
many  claims  the  wood  \\'as  exceedingly  scarce;  in  fact,  on 
most  of  them  there  was  none  at  all. 

Slabs  from  the  Dawson  City  sawmill  were  used  for  fires 
in  most  of  the  mines,  and  immense  numbers  were  bought  at 
fifty  cents  each,  while  sawdust  brought  twenty-five  cents  a 
sack.  All  buying  was  done  with  gold.  AYe  became  as 
used  to  handling  gold  dust  at  Klondike  before  the  winter 
was  over  as  a  miller  does  to  handling  meal. 

Occasionally,  when  the  weather  made  working  in  the 
mines  uncomfortable  or  impossible,  we  would  get  com- 
pletely worn  out  with  the  tediousness  of  life  and  tramp 
down  to  Dawson  to  see  what  was  going  on  and  to  get  a  bit 
of  recreation  —  anything  to  break  the  monotony.  With 
little  to  carry,  and  thoroughly  prepared  for  the  weather, 
we  could  work  our  way  along  comfortably,  observing  what 
others  were  doing  farther  down  on  the  creek,  and  then 
pursue  our  way  down  the  frozen  river.  One  of  these  trips 
we  took  about  Christmas  time,  but  no  one  would  have 
known  it  at  Dawson,  which  was  then  a  city  of  a  few  log 
cabins  and  a  host  of  tents.  Hundreds  of  people  were  too 
busy  keeping  themselves  warm  to  celebrate,  but  a  good 
many  miners  were  do^^Ti,  and  there  were  many  who  were 


CHRISTMAS   GAITIES   ATHlORT   CUDAHY  801 

staying  there  working  in  the  sawmill,  or  clerking  in  the 
stores,  or  in  the  various  saloons  and  restaurants  and  dance 
halls.  These  institutions  were  active,  but  no  more  so  than 
at  any  time.  When  the  old  miners  came  to  town  they  cele- 
brated anyhow,  irrespective  of  the  day  of  the  month  or  of 
the  week. 

Still,  Christmas  was  not  entirely  forgotten  in  this  region, 
and  there  is  a  feature  of  the  life  on  the  Yukon  which  should 
be  mentioned.  It  is  all  the  more  noteworthy  because  it  is 
so  rare.  The  little  mission  stations  along  the  Yukon  make 
slow  headway  among  the  natives,  but  they  still  afford  a 
flickeiing  gleam  of  a  higher  religious  enlightenment.  I 
heard  of  a  Christmas  celebration  down  the  river  which 
afforded  a  glimpse  of  the  life  of  those  who  face  the  severe 
climate  for  something  besides  gold.  The  story  was  told  by 
the  wife  of  a  man  connected  with  the  post  in  that  locality. 

The  first  Christmas  she  spent  in  the  Yukon  district  had 
been  two  years  before,  when,  with  her  husband,  she  lived  in 
a  log  house  at  Fort  Cudahy,  about  fifty  miles  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Klondike..  There  was  but  one  other  white 
woman  there,  but  it  was  a  comfortable  little  community, 
and  the  gold  fever  had  not  become  epidemic.  Two  of  her 
husband's  bachelor  friends  were  invited  to  spend  Christmas 
Day,  and  she  made  extensive  preparations  for  a  feast  that 
Avould  be  a  real  Christmas  treat.  Turkey?  They  do  not 
wander  around  the  Klondike  waiting  to  be  shot  for  Christ- 
mas tables.  Mince  pie  and  plum  pudding?  Not  on  the 
Yukon.  The  dinner  consisted  of  a  huge  haunch  of  roasted 
bear  meat  cut  from  the  carcass  of  an  animal  that  had  been 
killed  hundreds  of  miles  away,  and  they  were  glad  enough 
to  get  even  such  meat.  Bear  meat  is  very  much  like  roast 
pork,  and,  if  tender,  is  quite  a  dainty  dish  when  properly 


30v^  A  HO?i   T^^IKE   FIRESIDE 

proparetl,  Tlicy  sat  and  tiilked  all  day  with  tlie  wood 
blocks  heaped  up  on  the  blazing  hearth,  and  the  rough  log- 
walls  of  the  house  reflecting  cheerfully  the  light  from  the 
flames  that  danced  and  sparkled  around  the  chimney  corner. 
Outside  it  was  a  vei*y  cold,  cold  world.  Christmas  weather 
in  the  Klondike  is  not  comfortable.  The  w^nd  howled 
around  the  log  house  and  the  snow  fell,  steadily  accumulat- 
ing until  it  made  a  thick  wdiite  covering  that  effectually  kept 
any  drafts  from  finding  their  way  in.  The  thermometer 
outside  registered  fifty  degTees  below  zero.  But  inside  they 
were  as  cosy  and  warm  as  any  eastern  home  heated  by 
modern  appliances  could  be,  and  in  their  quiet  way,  though 
many  thousand  miles  from  what  they  really  called  home, 
they  enjoyed  themselves  and  were  happy.  The  men  were 
certainly  grateful  for  some  homelike  fireside  to  gather 
around  on  that  Christmas  day  in  the  Yukon. 

Her  Christmas  day  of  the  winter  when  we  were  there 
was  different  from  the  previous  one,  and  approached  some- 
what nearer  to  the  ideal  Christmas  of  the  East.  They 
actually  got  up  a  party  at  the  post,  and  had  a  Christmas  tree, 
and  games,  and  a  real  old-fashioned  time,  indicating  that 
the  Klondike  region  had  advanced  some  in  civilization.  It 
all  came  about  through  the  efforts  of  the  Kev.  James  ISTaylor, 
an  Episcopal  minister  who  had  buried  himself  in  the  Klon- 
dike, and  had  devoted  his  life  to  work  among  the  Indians 
and  half-breeds  there.  He  had  gathered  at  the  post  a 
numerous  contingent  of  little  half-breed  children,  who  had 
been  Christianized  and  partly  civilized  and  made  permanent 
attaches  of  the  station. 

Having  taught  them  the  meaning  of  Christmas,  Mr. 
]^aylor  decided  to  show  them  that  it  was  a  time  to  be  joyful 
by  giving  a  party  in  which  Santa  Claus  w^as  to  make  his 


SANTA   GLAUS   VISITS   THE   KLONDIKE  303 

initial  bow  to  a  mixed  audience  of  whites  and  half-breeds, 
and  go  through  his  customary  performance  of  distributing 
toys  and  other  gifts.  The  weather  was  all  that  Santa  Claus 
could  have  desired. 

But  where  could  they  get  toys  in  that  region,  where 
every  one  was  only  too  thankful  to  procure  sufhcient  to  eat 
and  wood  enough  to  cook  it  when  procured?  It  happened 
in  a  strange  way,  but  it  is  perhaps  not  so  strange  when  one 
observes  how  many  seemingly  useless  things  gold-seekers 
bring  into  this  country.  One  man  with  a  trading  instinct 
had  come  into  the  Klondike  region  late  in  the  fall,  and  had 
stuffed  into  his  pack  several  toys  and  other  nicknacks  where 
he  ought  to  have  put  food.  But  it  came  out  all  right. 
Every  white  mother  in  the  country  around  was  willing  to 
pay  its  weight  in  gold  for  any  pitiful  looking  toy  that  bore 
the  trademark  of  a  city  store.  The  man  sold  his  toys  and 
candy  at  his  own  prices,  and  was  not  such  a  freak  after  all. 
In  this  way  Santa  Claus  was  enabled  to  keep  his  contract 
with  the  little  folks  in  the  Klondike  that  year. 

When  the  day  came  and  the  people  around  drove  over 
to  the  mission  where  the  party  was  to  be  given,  the  ther- 
mometer was  at  its  Klondike  lowest,  and  frost-bites  threat- 
ened any'  nose  that  showed  itself  beyond  the  fur.  Teams 
consisting  of  half  a  dozen  dogs  were  rigged  up,  and  women 
and  children  enveloped  in  furs  to  their  eyebrows  climbed  in, 
and  off  they  went  over  the  hills  and  the  frozen  river  with  the 
dogs  trotting  along  at  their  best  pace  to  the  door  where  Mr. 
!Naylor  awaited  them.  Inside  all  was  merriment  and  laugh- 
ter. The  members  of  the  little  half-breed  colony,  about  a 
score  of  children,  were  in  such  a  state  of  gleeful  expectation 
that  they  were  ready  to  stand  on  their  heads  at  the  slightest 
provocation,  and  they  did  this  at  every  fresh  arrival.     They 


"304  A  MERRY   CHRISTMAS 

were  all  gotten  up  in  their  Sunday  best,  but  some  of  the 
white  children  wlio  had  come  in  had  to  waddle  about  in  their 
fur  boots. 

Nothing  like  that  Christmas  tree  was  ever  seen  in  the 
Klondike  before.  There  were  real  dolls  gaily  attired,  and 
with  real  eyes  and  noses  instead  of  the  featureless  baseball 
heads  w'ith  which  the  Klondike  children  had  been  forced  to 
satisfy  themselves.  There  were  horses  and  wagons,  dancing- 
figures,  and  tiny  drums,  and  other  contrivances  which  bring 
joy  to  the  juvenile  heart,  no  matter  in  w^hat  latitude  it  beats. 
The  toys  were  packed  in  bags  made  from  mosquito  netting, 
which  was  the  only  material  available.  Then  Santa  Claus 
came  down  and  distributed  them.  How^  the  little  eyes  of 
the  half-breeds  stuck  out!  They  thought  he  w^as  the 
genuine  article.  He  was  gotten  up  for  Yukon  weather  in 
a  great  furry  "  parka,"  with  the  hood  turned  up  around  his 
face.  In  lieu  of  a  genuine  white  beard  he  had  pow^dered 
his  own  beard  with  flour,  and  no  one  of  the  children  knew 
who  he  was,  so  effectually  was  he  disguised.  He  distributed 
the  toys  to  the  great  delight  of  the  little  half-breeds,  w^ho, 
after  a  time,  could  scarcely  express  their  feelings,  even  by 
standing  on  their  heads. 

After  that  they  went  in  for  a  series  of  old-fashioned 
games,  of  which  blind-man's-buff  proved  the  favorite.  The 
mission  house  was  built  of  rough  untrimmed  logs,  like  all 
the  best  houses,  but  some  attempt  had  been  made  to  decorate 
the  interior,  and  with  light  and  warmth  and  the  merriment 
of  happy  children,  it  needed  no  very  great  stretch  of  the 
imagination  to  forget  the  white  and  frozen  earth  outside, 
and  fancy  ourselves  at  home  again.  The  party  broke  up 
about  midnight  —  the  first  genuine  Cliristmas  party,  so  far 
as  I  have  heard,  in  the  country  of  the  Klondike. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

ALASKAN  WEATHER  — ON  THE  VERGE  OF  STARVATION- 
HOW  WE  PULLED  THROUGH  — DANGERS  OF  WINTER 
TRAVELING  — PAINFUL  EXPERIENCES. 

The  Paradox  of  Alaskan  Weather  —  A  Difference  in  Humidity  — 
Miners'  Thermometers  —  Time  to  Take  Care  of  One's  self  —  Seventy- 
two  Degrees  below  Zero  —  Sunset  and  Sunrise  —  Dangers  on  the 
Trail  — We  Discard  the  Hut  and  Take  to  the  Tent  — Building 
Fires  in  the  Morning  —  Hearing  One's  Breath  Strike  the  Air  — An 
Involuntary  Bath  —  Painful  Experiences  —  Eyelids  Freeze  To- 
gether— Protection  against  the  Bitter  Cold  —  The  Parka  and  Its 
Uses  — An  Alaskan  Opera  Cloak  — As  a  Frost  Protector  —  Care  of  the 
Feet  —  Snow  Shoes  —  Shortage  in  the  Food  Supply  —  How  it  Seems 
to  be  without  Salt  — Sold  for  Its  Weight  in  Gold— The  Pulling- 
Through  Process  —  Northern  Lights  as  a  Compensation  for  a  Win- 
ter in  Alaska  —  Their  Brilliancy. 

THE  weather  in  the  Alaskan  latitudes  is,  like  many 
other  features  of  the  country,  not  readily  appreci- 
ated and  understood  by  those  who  have  never  been 
there,  but  have  simply  read  about  it.  I  have  suffered  more 
from  the  cold  in  Colorado  than  I  have  in  the  Klondike;  and 
more  from  the  heat  on  the  Yukon  than  I  have  in  Colorado. 
In  Alaska  in  the  winter  of  1896  snow  did  not  thaw  a  particle, 
except  a  little  while  during  four  mild  days  in  February, 
from  the  time  in  Xovember  when  everything  froze  up  till 
the  middle  of  April.  JMost  of  the  time  during  what  we 
call  the  winter  months  the  mercury  was  far  l)elow  zero,  and 
the  lowest  that  I  saw  recorded  was  seventy-two  degrees. 

(305) 


306  THE  PARADOX   OF   THE  WEATHER 

111  a  g'ciieral  way,  this  paradox  of  the  weatlier  may  be 
explained  as  simply  a  difference  in  humidity.  In  Arizona, 
for  example,  the  hot  weather  is  dry,  and  the  cold  weather 
is  apt  to  be  damp.  In  Alaska  the  hot  weather  is  damp,  and 
the  cold  weatlier  dry.  When  the  thermometer  registered 
eightj-five  degrees  one  summer  day  on  the  Yukon,  the  air 
was  filled  with  a  hot  moisture;  not  a  breath  wss  stirring, 
and  the  sun  shone  on  with  no  interruption  from  clouds  for 
twenty-two  hours.  A  person  could  hardly  breathe,  and  I 
saw  men  quit  work  who  would  not  think  of  doing  so  were 
the  mercury  thirty  degrees  below  zero.  The  cold  weather 
of  the  Klondike  does  not  seem  cold  in  a  still  day,  and  yet 
there  are  many  days  when  a  man  can  step  out  of  his  cabin 
and  freeze  his  nose  before  he  can  count  sixty.  One  who 
takes  thoroughly  good  care  of  himself  need  not  suffer  seri- 
ously from  the  cold  in  Alaska.  Otherwise,  he  is  sure  to 
suffer.  Indeed,  he  may  freeze  to  death  by  overlooking  a 
few  essentials. 

There  were  not  half  a  dozen  regular  thermometers  in 
the  camp  that  winter,  but  the  specific  degree  of  coldness 
did  not  worry  the  old  miners,  unless  their  mercury  bottles 
froze  up.  Then  they  knew  it  was  time  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves. These  mercury  bottles  are  the  miners'  thennome- 
ters.  They  have  need  of  quicksilver  in  separating  their 
fine  gold,  and  so  they  always  have  it  at  hand.  They  take 
a  little  bottle  of  it  with  them  when  they  are  traveling,  and 
when  the  mercury  freezes  they  generally,  unless  in  a  great 
hurr;\^  or  in  a  tight  place  with  no  ]")rovisions,  go  into  camp 
and  wait  for  the  weather  to  moderate,  for  it  indicates  a  tem- 
perature of  at  least  forty  degrees  below  zero. 

The  winter  of  1896-97  was  said  by  the  old-timers  to  have 
been  a  remarkably  mild  one.     It  was  true  that  it  began  so, 


DARK  DAYS   OF   WINTER  307 

and  the  average  temperature  did  not  fall  permanently  below 
zero  till  in  November.  But  it  made  up  for  this  delay  in 
March.  The  coldest  day,  according  to  my  observations, 
was  on  the  15th,  when  the  mercury  stood  seventy-two  de- 
grees below  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  From  the 
4th  of  March  till  the  23d  it  was  never  above  fifty  degrees 
below.  It  was  quite  cold  some  days  in  January  and  there 
were  many  days  below  fifty  degrees. 

It  may  be  imagined  that  weather  of  this  character  is  not 
exactly  propitious  for  gold  mining,  and  very  little  was  done. 
Of  course,  the  man  down  in  the  hole  could  stand  it  very  well, 
shoveling  up  the  embers  of  a  night's  burning,  but  the  man 
at  a  windlass  at  the  top  was  in  a  less  agreeable  position.  But 
he  was,  on  the  whole,  much  better  off  than  the  man  in  the 
shaft,  who,  when  work  was  over,  frequently  came  up  hot 
and  perspiring,  and  the  cruel  blasts  chilled  him  through  in 
an  instant. 

In  the  Klondike  region  in  midwinter  the  sun  rises  from 
0:30  to  10  A.  M.,  and  sets  from  2  to  3  P.  M.,  the  total 
length  of  daylight  being  about  four  hours,  but  the  sun 
never  rises  but  a  few  degrees  above  the  horizon,  and  many 
are  the  days  when  it  is  wholly  obscured.  The  wind  blows 
almost  constantly,  and  while  the  snow  seldom  falls  more 
than  three  feet  on  the  level,  it  is  always  present  from  early 
October  to  April.  When  the  reader  couples  a  condition 
like  this  with  the  fact  that  day  after  day  mercury  will  re- 
main frozen  if  left  outdoors,  he  may  begin  to  imagine  the 
desolation  of  a  life  amid  the  lonely  gulches  of  the  north,  far 
from  all  that  civilized  people  are  used  to. 

The  changes  of  temperature  from  winter  to  summer  are 
rapid,  owing  to  the  great  increase  in  the  length  of  the  days. 
By  May  the  sun  is  rising  at  about  3  A.  M.,  and  setting  about 


308  nature's  changeful  moods 

'J  r.  M.,  aud  by  June  it  is  rising  at  1 :30  in  tlie  morning  and 
setting  about  10:30  P.  M.  Either  in  summer  or  winter  the 
resident  of  the  Yukon  must  be  prepared  for  the  greatest 
changes.  When  the  sun  shines  the  atmosphere  is  remark- 
ably clear,  the  scenic  effects  are  magnificent,  all  nature 
seems  to  be  in  holiday  attire.  But  the  scene  may  change 
very  quickly;  the  sky  becomes  overcast,  the  winds  increase 
in  force,  rain  begins  to  fall,  the  evergreens  sigh  ominously, 
and  utter  desolation  and  loneliness  prevail.  These  -treach- 
erous conditions  will  lure  many  a  brave  fellow  to  death  upon 
the  lonely  trails.  The  soft  autumnal  languor  of  that  lonely 
land  may  change  within  an  hour  to  the  darkness  of  the 
swirling  storm.  A\nien  Xature  thus  changes  her  smiling 
mood  for  the  tempest's  frown,  the  mountain  trail  becomes 
charged  with  ten'ible  dangers. 

In  the  winter  this  danger  is  increased.  A  storm  may 
break  from  the  clouds,  and  for  many  long  hours  the  frigid 
blasts,  filled  with  swirling  snow  which  cuts  like  a  knife,  will 
overwhelm  the  brave  traveler  unless  he  is  prepared.  The 
native  Indians  will  stick  a  couple  of  poles  in  the  snow  and 
hang  their  blankets  up  against  the  wind,  and  let  the  snow 
drift  over  them.  Usually  they  will  come  out  all  right,  but 
they  are  accustomed  to  the  climate  and  its  hardships,  and 
no  newcomer  should  be  caught  in  such  a  predicament.  It 
means  death  nine  times  out  of  ten. 

Joe  and  I  managed  to  endure  the  winter  very  comfort- 
ably, though  we  quickly  discarded  as  a  habitation  the  little 
hut  I  had  constnicted  out  of  gToen  logs.  We  set  up  the 
tent  in  front  to  live  in  and  used  the  hut  as  a  sort  of  store 
room  for  tools  and  the  like.  It  was  too  small  for  comfort, 
and  the  air  became  too  intolerable  for  two  persons  in  the 
long  nights  when  venls  had  to  be  closed  to  keep  out  the 


LIVING  IN  A  SNOW-BANKED  TENT  309 

cold.  We  moved  the  stove  into  the  tent  and  enjoyed  life 
much  better.  Little  by  little  the  snow  banked  around  it  and 
over  it,  so  that  after  a  time  it  was  quite  warm,  though,  of 
course,  much  cold  air  came  in  at  the  entrance,  no  matter  how 
well  closed.  After  the  fire  went  out  at  night  it  cooled  off 
very  quickly,  and  it  was  as  cold  as  out  of  doors,  but  the  tent 
kept  off  the  wind.  One  could  hardly  get  under  blankets 
enough  to  keep  warm,  but  with  a  pair  of  blankets  and  a  good 
robe  I  was  more  comfortable  than  those  who  were  using 
sleeping  bags.  During  the  summer  when  I  went  down  the 
Yukon,  I  traded  with  some  Indians  and  secured  several  fine 
lynx  skins.  I  had  them  made  into  a  robe  at  Dawson,  and  the 
whole  thing  cost  me  about  seventy-five  dollars.  It  was 
eight  feet  long  and  seven  feet  wide,  and  lined  with  a  heavy 
woolen  blanket.  Before  I  had  lived  through  half  that 
winter  I  had  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  rather  throw 
away  my  gold  mine  than  that  robe.  It  was  worth  more 
than  twenty  blankets  for  comfort,  and  some  of  the  miners 
in  the  camp  ofi^ered  me  twice  what  I  paid  for  it. 

But  in  spite  of  all  the  precautions  we  took,  and  the  care 
we  exercised  in  small  details,  we  could  not  fail  to  suffer 
some.  It  was  rather  cold  getting  up  and  building  a  fire 
when  the  thermometer  Avas  fifty  degrees  or  more  below 
zero.  It  was  all  the  more  trying  because  I  had  slept  as 
warm  as  toast  in  the  robe.  Mornings  when  it  was  so  very 
cold,  and  no  wind  was  stirring,  it  was  as  still  as  death,  and 
I  could  actually  hear  my  breath  strike  the  air.  There  was 
a  sort  of  a  crackle  when  the  warm  lireath  met  the  cold  atmos- 
phere, and  it  was  at  first  painful  to  draw  such  cold  air  into 
the  lungs.  But,  strange  to  say,  I  was  never  troubled  with 
a  cough,  and  never  felt  the  slightest  touch  of  a  cold  until 
late  in  the  season,  after  the  ice  had  begun  to  break  up.    One 


310  A  COLD  WALK 

day,  wlicii  coming  up  to  camp  from  Dawson,  I  slipped  and 
fell  in  the  river,  and  neglected  to  change  my  clothes.  I 
worked  several  hours  after  reaching  camp,  and,  after  drying 
a  little  before  the  fire,  rolled  up  in  my  blanket  and  went  to 
bed.  Instead  of  killing  me,  it  only  gave  me  a  slight  cold 
for  a  week. 

I  had  a  much  more  painful  experience  in  January,  when 
I  started  out  from  Dawson  to  pull  a  sled  load  of 'provisions 
up  to  the  camp.  When  I  had  gone  a  few  miles  I  became  so 
cold  that  I  could  not  pull  the  sled.  It  was  too  far  to  go  on, 
so  I  left  the  sled  there  and  walked  back  to  Dawson.  In  that 
way  I  could  keep  tolerably  warm,  for  one  can  keep  warm  if 
he  moves  fast  enough,  but  if  he  stands  still  he  will  freeze. 
My  eyelids  kej)t  freezing  together,  but  I  had  to  be  very 
careful  about  pulling  off  my  gloves  to  thaw  them  apart.  I 
did  it  as  quickly  as  I  could,  but  several  times  my  hands 
nearly  froze  before  I  could  get  them  back  into  the  big  mit- 
tens. When  I  reached  Dawson  City  the  thermometers 
registered  fifty-eight  degrees  below. 

One  need  not  fear  these  uncomfortable  experiences  if 
he  be  properly  dressed  and  prepared  for  them.  A  common 
winter  dress  of  the  mines  is  a  gannent  that  the  native 
Alaskans  sell.  It  is  a  blouse  of  heavy  skins,  with  trousers 
of  seal.  These  are  fastened  close  about  the  body,  which 
is  enveloped  in  two  or  more  suits  of  heavy  underclothing. 
For  footwear,  low  boots  of  tough  walriTS  hide  or  rubber  boots 
are  worn.  Mittens  and  hoods  of  bear  or  dog  skin  are  es- 
sential. 

But  the  gTeat  institution  in  Alaska,  so  far  as  wearing 
apparel  is  concerned,  is  the  "  parka."  Whenever  the  coat 
of  arms  of  the  territory  come  to  be  designed,  there  are  four 
objects  which  should  be  worked  in  somehow;  these  are  a 


THE   INDISPENSABLE   PARKA  311 

cache,  a  dog,  a  mosquito,  and  a  parka.  If  tliat  is  not  enough 
the  artist  might  put  a  glacier  in  the  backg-round.  The 
parka  is  of  Indian  origin.  Xo  matter  what  part  of  the  great 
territory  the  Indians  come  from,  or  to  what  tribe  they  be- 
long, they  wear  this  garment.  It  is  made  like  a  big  shirt, 
coming  down  to  the  knees,  and  with  no  opening  front  or 
back.  It  is  just  slipped  on  over  the  head,  and  attached  to  it  is 
a  hood,  trimmed  around  the  face  with  fur.  The  Indian  par- 
kas are  usually  made  entirely  of  fur,  the  fur  being  inside,  and 
the  sleeves,  especially  of  the  parkas  of  the  lower  Yukon  In- 
dians, are  made  so  large  that  if  they  wish  to  pull  their  arms 
inside  they  can  do  so  with  no  trouble.  They  can  snuggle 
down  in  these  garments  until  completely  out  of  sight. 

The  Yukon  miner  and  trader  has  adapted  the  Indian 
style  to  his  own  uses,  and  the  usual  parka  is  made  of  blue 
denim  or  overall  cloth,  with  a  bit  of  fur  around  the  opening 
of  the  hood.  When  the  temperature  is  fifty  or  sixty  de- 
grees below  zero,  however,  the  all-fur  parkas  are  better  and 
are  common.  These  garments  are  useful  not  only  to  keep 
out  the  cold,  but  to  keep  the  frost  off.  For  when  one  goes 
out  in  severe  weather  the  breath  congeals  in  a  white  mantle 
all  over  the  parka.  Going  indoors,  it  of  course  thaws,  and 
if  one  stays  long  he  throws  it  off.  Going  out  again,  it 
freezes  stiff.  But  it  keeps  the  clothing  underneath  in  good 
condition.  It  is  a  sort  of  "  opera  cloak."  If  one  leaves 
his  tent  to  go  down  into  the  city  of  an  evening,  he  slips  on 
his  parka.  If  working,  the  under  coat  may  be  dispensed 
with ;  not  so  the  parka.  As  a  frost  protector  it  is  as  valiiabh' 
then  as  it  is  when  going  to  the  theater  or  the  otlier  places  of 
amusement. 

In  severe  weather  —  that  is,  when  the  mercury  is  frozen 
• —  the  hands,   face,   and  feet  must  be   watched   closely. 
19 


312  A   GLACIER  ON   THE   CHIN 

Otherwise  tlicj  will  have  a  tendeuey  to  freeze  before  you 
are  aware  that  they  are  cold.  I  used  to  wear  a  heavy  pair  of 
woolen  stockings  which  came  nj)  to  my  knees,  over  them  a 
pair  of  fur  socks,  and  then  moccasins.  One  will  make  a 
track  in  the  snow  as  big  as  that  of  an  elephant,  but  none  too 
big  to  enable  one  to  get  along  comfortably.  Indeed,  snow- 
shoes  are  generally  needed,  for  the  snow  never  packs  solid 
except  in  the  trail,  and  a  person  will  drop  clear  to  the  bottom 
of  almost  the  deepest  snows  if  he  steps  out  of  the  road, 
unless  he  has  on  snowshoes. 

There  was  some  difference  of  opinion  in  the  camp  as  to 
the  advisability  of  wearing  whiskers  during  an  Arctic  win- 
ter, and  there  certainly  are  two  sides  to  the  question.  Shav- 
ing oneself  is  not  an  easy  process  when  living  in  a  tent,  and 
when  the  air  is  apt  to  be  chilled  by  the  blasts  which  find 
their  way  in.  Moreover,  whiskers  are  of  some  protection 
to  the  face  and  throat  when  facing  such  blasts  outside. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  this  very  protection  becomes  a 
nuisance  of  the  most  exasperating  character.  I  have 
spoken  of  the  way  in  which  the  frost  congeals  upon  the 
clothing.  But  that  is  not  a  circumstance  to  the  freaks  it 
will  play  with  a  heavy  beard.  It  will  settle  in  and  through 
it  till  it  becomes  a  solid  mass  of  ice,  and  cannot  be  thrown  off 
like  a  parka  when  entering  a  warm  room.  The  only  thing 
to  do  is  to  sit  over  the  fire  and  let  the  glacier  on  your  chin 
melt.  In  view  of  this  inconvenience,  the  majority  of 
miners  keep  their  whiskers  trimmed  very  short  in  winter, 
and  allow  them  to  grow  in  the  summer  as  a  protection 
against  mosquitoes.  Then  they  are  a  real  blessing,  and 
many  times  a  man  will  wish  himself  as  hairy  as  a  baboon. 

Towards  the  end  of  winter  the  food  supply  in  camp  and 
at  Daw'son  ran  very  low,  —  a  common  spring  complaint 


ON   THE   VERGE   OF   STARVATION  315 

in  tlie  upper  Yukon  region.  Although  the  trading  com- 
panies had  concentrated  what  supplies  they  could  at  Daw- 
son, the  discovery  of  gold  had  taken  place  so  late  in  the 
summer,  and  had  been  followed  so  quickly  by  ice,  that  by 
March  there  was  much  difficulty  in  getting  anything.  A 
few  supplies  were  brought  up  from  Circle  City,  and  a  little 
flour  was  dragged  up  from  Forty  Mile.  It  was  also  possible 
to  buy  a  little  caribou  or  bear  meat  occasionally,  but  by 
the  time  the  snow  began  to  melt  there  was  practically 
nothing  in  the  camp  but  beans,  and  fully  two  hundred  men 
lived  on  these  for  several  weeks.  We  nearly  starved,  or,  at 
least,  we  thought  we  did.  It  would  not  have  been  much 
of  a  job  to  get  together  a  million  of  dollai's'  worth  of  gold 
dust  along  the  creek,  but  such  a  thing  as  a  good  square  meal 
was  not  to  be  had.  It  is  fully  as  unpleasant  to  be  without 
salt  as  it  is  without  flour,  yet  salt  was  so  scarce  that  it  could 
be  obtained  only  in  .the  most  insignificant  quantities  and  at 
the  most  exorbitant  price.  It  was  actually  worth  its  weight 
in  gold  to  some  of  the  miners.  A  party  on  the  creek  ran 
completely  out  of  this  article,  though  they  had  a  fair  amount 
of  other  provisions.  They  said  they  really  felt  as  if  they 
should  die  did  they  not  obtain  salt  somehow. 

Near  them  was  another  party  having  salt,  but  they  re- 
fused to  part  with  any  of  it.  It  was  insisted  that  it  ought 
to  be  shared,  and  that  the  party  having  it  must  sell  at  a  fair 
price.  It  was  'ascertained  that  the  party  owning  the  salt 
had  very  little  gold  dust,  and  those  without  salt  had  an 
abundance.  So  it  was  finally  arranged  that  the  owners 
of  the  salt  should  part  with  a  portion  of  it,  and  that  it  should 
be  weighed  against  the  precious  dust.  Thus  was  salt  act- 
ually sold  for  its  weight  in  gold. 

When  matters  reached  this  pass  the  provisions  Ix^came 


31G  ONE   OF   ALASKA'S  WONDERS 

to  a  certain  extent  common  i)roperty.  ]^o  one  was  allowed 
to  starve  so  long  as  anything  was  left  in  the  camp.  Mean- 
while the  cold  remained  intense,  and  our  appetites  knew 
no  bonnds.  But  we  never  quite  reached  the  starving  point. 
That  has  always  been  the  way  on  the  Yukon.  Every  year 
the  people  there  come  near  to  starvation,  but  they  pull 
through  somehow.  This  "  pulling  through  "  process  can- 
not be  appreciated  by  simply  reading  about  it.  It  must 
be  experienced. 

There  is  one  spectacle  which  compensates  one  for  these 
long,  cold  winter  twilights  and  contingent  hardships;  one 
thing  which  is  Avorth  the  spending  of  a  winter  in  the  Klon- 
dike, or  any  part  of  northern  Alaska,  the  nearer  the  Arctic 
Circle  the  better.  It  is  not  the  gold.  The  more  I  reflect 
on  this  life  and  the  hereafter,  the  more  I  am  in  doubt  as 
to  whether  the  gold  in  the  frozen  placers  of  Alaska  is  in 
itself  worth  going  after.  But  the  aurora  of  Alaska  is  worth 
seeing,  even  if  you  have  to  live  on  short  rations  of  bacon 
and  beans  for  three  months  and  find  no  gold.  Some  people 
seem  to  care  very  little  about  it,  and  to  old  miners  the  spec- 
tacle undoubtedly  becomes  commonplace,  as  it  has  to  the 
natives.  Perhaps  I  was  born  a  little  sentimental  as  to  the 
wonders  of  Xature,  and  the  celestial  wondei*s  in  particular. 

Some  clear,  still,  cold  nights,  wlien  the  indications 
favored  a  brilliant  display  of  northern  lights,  I  have  put 
on  my  snowshoes  and  climbed  back  on  the  hillside  "  just  to 
drink  them  in."  It  may  be  vain  to  attempt  to  describe  such 
a  scene,  for  one  must  see  it  for  himself;  must  stand  on  one 
of  those  hills  in  a  country  mantled  with  snow,  among  the 
trees  which  bend  under  their  spotless  burden,  every  twig 
a  cluster  of  feathery  whiteness.  It  is  night,  and  yet  not 
darkness,  only  a  soft,  subduing  absence  of  the  sun's  rays. 


THE  GRANDEUR   OF  AN  ARCTIC   AURORA  317 

Over  the  hills  and  valleys  silence  broods  in  all  its  cold  per- 
fection. Overhead  the  stars  glitter  as  they  do  only  in  these 
still,  cold  nights  in  the  far  north. 

Then  one  becomes  aware  of  a  sort  of  weird  and  formless 
presence  in  the  sky,  and  the  stars  seem  to  be  dancing  on 
silvery  billows.  A  queer  electric  crackle  breaks  npon  the 
stillness,  and  in  an  instant  the  sky  is  painted  with  quivering 
bands  of  yellow,  changing  into  every  color  of  the  rainbow, 
darting  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning,  and  changing  every 

second. 

"  Glowing  wide  and  bright,  then  narrow, 

And  then  flashing  broad  and  golden, 

Sending  long  bright  crimson  fingers 

Far  across  the  cloudless  ether. 

Rosy  lights  grow  clear  and  vivid. 

Pale  to  tints  of  faintest  blushes, 

Then  burst  out  in  glorious  shading 

Close  beside  the  soft,  blue  azure 

Where  the  sharp,  clear  edges  mingle 

In  the  softest  shades  of  purple. 
"  Pale-green  shafts  shoot  out  and  quiver 

In  the  glorious  brightness  ! 

Flaming  pencils  touch  the  hilltops. 

Sending  slender  rainbow  arclies 

Down  their  glinting  shimmering  mantles. 

Bushes,  trees,  and  shining  grass  blades 

Catch  the  gleam  of  gold  and  crimson, 

And  throw  out  swift,  starry  flashes 

Toward  the  gay,  auroral  brightness. 
"  In  the  north  a  glorious  archway 

Casts  its  glancing  rays  and  shafting, 

And  uplifts  a  glittering  halo 

Far  across  the  dark-blue  zenith. 

Downward  flings  its  mingled  shading  — 

Gold  and  blue,  and  green  and  crimson, 

Yellow,  tender  pink,  and  purple. 

Shrinking  from  the  icy  contact, 

And  then  sweeping  through  the  cloud  patlis." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

PREPARING  FOR  SLUICING  — THE  SPRING  "CLEAN-UP"— 
ASTONISHING  RESULTS  WHEN  DIRT  WAS  WASHED 
OUT  — SOME  LUCKY  STRIKES  — THE  ROMANCE  OF 
FORTUNE. 

Joe  and  I  Have  Poor  Luck  —  Trying  to  Locate  the  Pay-Streak  —  Big 
Pans  in  March  and  April  —  Pay-Dirt  —  How  the  Value  of  the  Dirt 
is  Reckoned  —  Old  Miners  Begin  to  Speculate  —  Expense  of  Getting 
Sluice  Boxes  —  Some  of  the  Fortunes  —  Berry  and  His  Wonderful 
Strike  —  Very  Blue  when  He  Heard  of  the  Klondike  —  Takes  Out 
1130,000  — A  Bird  in  the  Hand  vs.  a  Bird  in  the  Bush  — A  Wiscon- 
sin Schoolmaster's  Experience  —  Worth  a  Million  —  Better  than 
Trading  —  Sudden  Rise  in  the  Value  of  Claims  —  Computing  the 
Value  of  a  Bonanza  Claim  —  Wonderful  Results  —  The  Aggregate 
Amount  of  the  Spring  Work  —  Some  of  the  Lucky  Ones  on  El- 
dorado Creek  —  Fortunes  on  the  Bonanza  —  Lucky  Days — "  What 
Will  I  Do  With  All  That  Money  ? " 

HARDLY  more  than  a  score  of  tlie  claims  on  Bonanza 
and  Eldorado  creeks  were  tliorouglily  worked  dur- 
ing that  long  winter  of  1896-97.  As  already  men- 
tioned, labor  was  scarce,  and  the  newcomers  who  had  ac- 
quired the  rich  territory  were  unable  to  do  much  except  in 
a  small  way.  Joe  and  I  had  poor  luck  in  finding  the  pay- 
streak,  and  it  was  well  towards  spring  before  our  pans  began 
to  make  any  unusual  yields.  Those  who  had  secured  help 
and  worked  their  property  more  extensively  were  generally 
unaware  of  what  Avould  develop  in  the  spring  clean-up, 
though  the  richness  of  some  of  the  better  known  claims  was 

(318) 


A   PAN   OF  EIGHT   HUNDRED  DOLLARS  319 

fairly  well  known,  for  at  times  the  gold  fairly  stuck  out  of 
the  dirt.  The  tests  that  had  been  made  had  given  an  aston- 
ishingly high  average,  and  as  bed-rock  was  reached  the  re- 
sults were  simply  staggering.  About  the  middle  of  March 
two  boys,  one  from  Juneau  and  another  from  Stuck  Valley, 
Wash.,  began  to  take  out  wonderful  pans  from  the  bottom 
of  their  shaft.  They  were  not  quite  sure  of  the  evidence  of 
their  own  eyes,  and  invited  another  man  to  go  down  and 
]nck  out  a  pan  of  dirt  in  the  pay-streak.  He  did  so,  and  was 
surprised  to  find  two  hundred  and  eighty-two  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  in  it.  In  fourteen  pans  of  dirt  from  the  bottom 
of  the  shaft  they  took  out  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
sixty-five  dollars.  March  2  Otli,  Clarence  Berry  took  out  over 
three  hundred  dollars  to  the  pan,  James  MacLanie  over  two 
hundred  dollars,  and  Frank  Phiscater  over  one  hundred  and 
thirty  dollars.  There  were  four  men  Avorking  one  claim 
which  began  to  yield  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dol- 
lars to  the  pan.  Then  we  began  to  hear  of  big  pans  from 
the  shafts  which  had  reached  bed-rock  all  along  the  creeks, 
and  one-hundred  and  two-hundred-dollar  pans  became  com- 
mon in  April.  On  April  13th  Berry  took  out  a  pan  of  thirty- 
nine  ounces  —  four  hundred  and  ninety-five  dollars  —  and 
in  two  days  took  out  one  thousand  two  hundred  dollars  by 
his  tests.  On  the  20th  it  was  reported  that  some  miners 
working  a  lay  on  ISTo.  30  Eldorado  had  found  a  pan  contain- 
ing eight  hundred  dollars. 

When  some  of  these  men  reckoned  up  the  value  of  the 
dirt  they  had  been  dumping  out,  they  had  bright  dreams  of 
wealth.  The  method  of  computing  the  value  of  a  dump  is 
very  simple.  The  miners'  assays  consist  of  panning  out  a 
number  of  pans  of  gravel  at  stated  intervals  dnring  his  shift. 
An  average  of  the  whole  is  easily  arrived  at:  the  bucket  in 


3'^0  THE   BEWILDERMENT   OF   SUDDEN  WEALTH 

his  shaft  contains  so  many  joans,  and  the  wortli  of  a  bucket 
becomes  a  simple  matter  of  eakndation.  Each  shift  keeps 
tally  of  the  number  of  buckets  thrown  upon  the  dump,  and 
the  daily  average  value,  and  after  one,  two,  or  even  six 
months'  work  at  drifting  an  apparently  accurate  conclusion 
of  the  amount  of  gold  in  sight  can  be  reached. 

Of  course,  pans  varied  in  such  placers,  and  the  lucky 
owners  scarcely  dared  to  reckon  into  the  average  yielded  by 
the  large  pans  which  they  washed  for  testing,  but  the  value 
of  claims  jumped  immensely  and  speculation  was  rife.  Old 
miners  who  had  turned  up  their  noses  at  the  Klondike  at 
first,  and  had  afterwards  come  back  and  spent  the  winter  in 
looking  for  more  creeks,  saw  at  once  the  value  of  the  new 
claims  and  calculated  what  they  could  pay  for  them.  They 
offered  large  sums  for  some  of  the  claims  after  seeing  the 
tests  and  inspecting  the  dumps,  and  a  number  of  the  tender- 
feet,  dazed  by  the  sight  of  such  sudden  riches  thrust  in  their 
faces,  sold  out.  They  thought  a  bird  in  hand  Avas  worth 
two  in  the  bush,  but  they  did  not  understand  so  well  as  the 
old  miners  what  was  in  the  bush.  When  a  mine  was 
bought,  the  season's  work,  that  is,  the  dumps,  went  with  it, 
and  the  old  miner  calculated  that  he  could  clean  out  of  the 
sluice  boxes,  when  they  could  be  started,  enough  to  pay 
the  large  sums  they  had  offered.  Of  course,  they  had  to  run 
in  debt  heavily  for  a  time,  and  it  was  something  of  a  gamble, 
for  the  dumps  might  not  pan  out  as  well  as  anticipated,  and 
the  rate  of  interest  was  high  —  generally  five  per  cent,  a 
month. 

It  was  not  an  easy  or  inexpensive  matter  to  arrange  the 
sluice  boxes  for  the  spring  work.  The  sawmill  at  Dawson 
had  been  kept  busy  beyond  its  capacity  in  providing  for  the 
growth  of  the  place,  and  many  cotdd  not  secure  the  neces- 


ONE   OF   THE   REMARKABLE   CASES  321 

sary  lumber  for  the  construction  of  their  sluice  boxes  with- 
out  paying  an  enormous  sum,  while  if  they  whip-sawed  it  on 
claims  it  would  cost  about  three  hundred  dollars  a  thousand, 
figuring  in  the  cost  of  labor  and  the  logs.  But  when 
sluicing  once  began  people  who  had  debts  quickly  paid  them 
ofi:',  and  those  who  had  lived  from  hand  to  mouth  all  their 
lives  suddenly  had  all  their  old  baking-powder  cans  and  old 
jars  and  kettles  in  their  camp  full  of  gold  dust. 

There  were  plenty  of  cases  bordering  on  the  romantic 
in  that  lonely  valley  then.  One  of  the  most  conspicuous 
was  that  of  Clarence  J.  Berry.  Not  very  successful  as  the 
owner  of  a  fruit  farm  in  Fresno,  Cal.,  he  determined  to  try 
his  luck  on  the  Yukon.  He  reached  Juneau  with  only 
sixty  dollars  in  his  pocket,  but  made  his  way  undaunted 
over  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  and  finally  down  to  Circle  City, 
where  all  the  excitement  then  was.  He  lived  along  as  best 
he  could,  and  looked  about  for  a  location,  but  without  much 
success.  In  the  fall  of  1895  he  returned  to  California  al- 
most as  poor  as  he  had  started.  But  he  had  faith  in  the 
richness  of  the  country.  In  February  he  married  ]\Iiss 
Fthel  Bush  of  Selma,  Cal.,  it  being  understood  that  they 
were  to  make  a  venture  into  the  Great  Northwest  to  carve 
out  their  fortunes.  They  had  the  usual  run  of  hardships  in 
making  their  way  to  the  Yukon.  Stopping  at  Forty  Mile, 
Berry  found  absolutely  nothing  to  do  for  a  long  time,  but 
finally  secured  a  chance  on  a  claim  and  made  a  little  gold, 
but  scarcely  enough  to  keep  him  going.  Wlien  the  news 
of  the  strike  on  Bonanza  Creek  reached  Forty  Mile,  Berry 
was  one  of  the  bluest  of  the  blue,  and  had  scarcely  enough 
ambition  left  to  go  with  the  rush.  But  liis  wife  prevailed 
upon  him  to  go,  and  he  struck  it  rich  within  a  short  time. 
He  was  soon  able  to  build  a  comfortabh'  home  for  bis  wife  at 


322  WASHING   OUT   WAGES 

Dawson,  hut  slie  remained  miieli  of  the  time  at  the  mines, 
where  she  poked  around  the  dumps,  and,  during  the  time  she 
was  there,  picked  up  about  ten  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
nuggets. 

In  a  few  months  Berry  took  out  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  from  which  he  paid  twenty-two  thousand 
dollars  to  miners.  He  paid  the  experienced  men  fifteen 
dollars  a  day  and  settled  with  them  every  evening  by  wash- 
ing out  a  few  panfuls  of  dirt  with  melted  snow.  Three 
men,  named  Flack,  Sloan,  and  Wilkinson,  worked  a  claim 
on  Eldorado,  and  when  they  had  sunk  a  shaft  eighteen  feet 
Sloan  and  AVilkinson  sold  out  their  interests  for  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  each,  but  Flack  refused  to  sell.  He  preferred 
to  take  his  chances  with  the  bird  in  the  bush.  The  three 
owners  when  they  came  to  clean  up  the  dump  obtained  over 
fifty  thousand  dollars  each  out  of  the  dirt  thrown  out  before 
the  pay-streak  was  reached.  A  miner  by  the  name  of  Alex. 
]\IacDonald  took  out  ninety-four  thousand  dollars  from  a 
forty-foot  patch  of  ground  only  tw^o  feet  thick.  He  em- 
jiloyed  four  men  to  do  the  work  and  consumed  but  twenty- 
eight  days.     His  claim  was  ISTo.  30  Eldorado. 

There  was  one  man  wdio  a  year  before  had  been  a  coun- 
try schoolteacher  in  Wisconsin.  In  the  spring  of  1896  he 
started  on  a  pleasure  trip  to  Juneau.  His  funds  gave  out 
and  he  was  compelled  to  go  to  work,  but  later  on  he  joined 
a  party  of  tenderfeet  and  started  up  the  Stikine  Eiver  for 
Lake  Teslin.  Before  the  lake  was  reached  eleven  of  the 
party  gave  up  in  disgust,  and  the  schoolmaster  and  one 
other  were  left  alone  with  less  than  a  year's  provisions. 
They  pushed  on  to  the  lake,  built  a  raft,  and  started  do^vn 
the  river.  Along  in  October  they  came  floating  down  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Klondike,  as  green  a  pair  as  ever  found 


SOME   OF  THE   FORTUNATE   ONES  323 

their  way  into  the  country.  They  heard  about  the  dis- 
covery, but  found  all  the  good  claims  staked.  Finally,  they 
secured  a  chance  to  work  a  claim  on  shares,  which  gave 
them  each  one-fourth  interest  in  the  claim.  They  took  out 
eighty  thousand  dollars  in  thirty  days  from  one  claim  on  El- 
dorado, and  twenty-two  thousand  dollars  in  twenty  days 
from  another,  and  by  the  time  they  washed  out  their  dumps 
they  were  interested  in  a  half  dozen  other  claims  of  value. 
The  schoolmaster  calculated  that  he  was  worth  at  least  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  that  his  chances  were  good 
for  a  million  by  the  time  his  interests  were  worked  out. 

Something  like  a  realization  of  the  force  and  complete- 
ness of  the  awakening  may  be  had  from  a  simple  observa- 
tion of  the  experience  of  a  Seattle  boy  who  had  amved  at 
the  Klondike  too  late  to  stake  a  claim,  but  still  while  the 
majority  had  little  faith  in  the  permanent  value  of  the 
new  discovery.  He  found  a  fellow  who  was  willing  to  sell 
his  Eldorado  claim  for  eighty-five  dollars,  and  he  pur- 
chased it,  but  was  unable  to  work  it.  In  April,  or  in  less 
than  four  months  after  his  purchase,  not  having  put  a  pick 
into  the  dirt  of  the  claim,  he  sold  it  for  thirty-one  thousand 
dollars  in  Canadian  money,  which  in  dust  at  seventeen  dol- 
lars an  ounce  would  be  equivalent  to  about  thirty-five  thou- 
sand dollars.  There  were  many  similar  cases  Avhere  claims 
were  sold  in  Xovcmber  for  as  many  dollars  as  they  were 
valued  in  thousands  in  the  spring. 

Sometime  in  the  winter  a  Frencli  Canadian,  while  in- 
toxicated, sold  his  claim  on  Eldorado  for  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. When  ho  became  sober  he  regretted  exceedingly 
what  he  had  done.  Some  of  his  friends  told  In'm  that  a 
contract  made  with  a  man  when  intoxicated  would  not  hold, 
and  he  threatened  proceedings  to  have  it  declared  void. 


3-24  "THERE  ARE   LOTS   MORE" 

The  fact  was  that  all  the  })arties  were  more  or  less  intoxi- 
cated when  the  sale  was  made.  It  was  one  of  those  saloon 
incidents  qnite  common  when  the  tired  and  lonesome  miners 
meet  at  Dawson  to  break  the  hard  monotony  of  their 
lives.  Rather  than  hazard  a  lawsuit,  the  purchaser  of  the 
claim  offered  to  the  French  Canadian  what  was,  in  effect, 
about  one-tenth  of  the  original  claim,  to  surrender  all  right 
and  title,  real  or  imaginary,  that  he  might  have.  It  was 
about  the  middle  of  March  when  he  accepted  this  settle- 
ment, and  in  April  he  sold  his  interest  in  this  small  part  of 
the  claim  for  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  and  went  home  to 
spend  it. 

Frank  Dinsmore,  a  poor  prospector,  in  1896  took  out  of 
a  claim  on  Bonanza  Creek  ninety  pounds  of  gold  in  a  single 
day,  netting  him  twenty-four  thousand  four  hundred  and 
eighty  dollars.  A  man  working  on  Alec  McDonald's  El- 
dorado claim  shoveled  in  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  twelve 
hours.  McDonald  is  a  great  big,  raw-boned,  rough,  good- 
hearted  working  man.  One  day  he  paid  over  to  the  Alaska 
Trading  and  Transportation  Company  at  Dawson  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  one  payment.  Among 
the  mass  of  gold  was  twelve  thousand  dollars  in  nuggets  in 
a  granite  bowl.  They  weighed  about  forty-five  pounds. 
Alice  Henderson,  a  newspaper  correspondent,  happened  to 
be  present  at  the  time  the  payment  was  made.  Alec  turned 
to  her  and  said,  in  an  off-hand  way: 

"  Help  yourself  to  the  nuggets.  Take  some  of  the 
bigger  ones." 

She  hesitated,  and  he  said:  "  Oh,  they  are  nothing  to 
me.     Take  as  many  as  you  please.     There  are  lots  more." 

She  finally  took  a  nugget  which  represented  about  two 
hundred  dollars  in  gold.     Frank  Phiscator  was  another  pros- 


THE   SCRATCHING  OF  THE   PAY-STREAK  325 

pector  from  Michigan.  In  the  fall  of  1896  he  was  a  pauper 
prospector.     In  the  spring  of  1897  he  was  a  millionaire. 

One  June  day,  when  the  dumps  had  been  pretty  well 
washed  out,  the  Canadian  surveyor  went  up  to  Eldorado 
Creek  to  gain  an  idea  of  the  output  of  the  twenty-four 
claims  that  had  been  at  all  worked  there.  He  calculated 
that  at  the  rate  of  seventeen  dollars  an  ounce  it  aggregated 
about  eight  hundred  and  twenty-six  thousand  dollars,  and 
this  was  the  result  of  little  more  than  a  scratching  of  the 
pay-streak  of  the  claims.  One  claim  on  the  creek  had  been 
sold  in  April  for  forty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  five  thou- 
sand dollars  had  been  paid  down.  The  other  provisions  of 
the  sale  were  that  fifteen  thousand  dollars  should  be  paid  on 
May  15th,  or  about  a  month  after  the  sale,  the  purchaser,  if 
failing  to  make  the  payment,  forfeiting  the  claim,  and  the 
balance  to  be  paid  by  July  1st,  failing  which  the  claim 
and  all  money  paid  should  be  forfeited.  This  was  con- 
sidered by  some  a  very  hazardous  deal.  It  required  im- 
mense faith  in  the  dirt;  but  the  purchaser  seemed  to  know 
his  business,  and^when  the  papers  were  completed  he  said 
he  never  felt  surer  of  a  homestake  in  his  life,  although  he 
had  been  mining  for  over  twenty  years.  After  the  pur- 
chase, as  sluicing  could  not  yet  be  done,  he  set  to  work 
with  two  rockers,  and  made  his  payment  on  May  11th,  or 
four  days  before  it  was  due,  and  the  balance  was  ready  about 
the  20th  of  June.  The  claim  had  been  sold  for  an  amount 
which  was  practically  equivalent  to  but  two  months'  work- 
ing of  a  space  about  twenty-four  feet  square,  and  with  a 
rocker  at  that. 

If  Bonanza  Creek  did  not  develop  such  remarkable  re- 
sults at  first  it  was  still  rich  past  the  comprehension  of  the 
owners.     About  the  middle  of  April,  George  Cormack, 


326  THE  STARTLING   QUOTIENT 

acting  for  Tagisli  Charlie,  his  associate,  sold  one-half  of 
(Maim  Xo.  2  helow  for  live  thonsand  dollars,  five  hundred 
dollars  down,  and  the  balance  to  be  paid  by  July  1,  or 
forfeit  the  mone}'  and  the  claim.  On  July  1,  while  pass- 
ing the  claim,  the  Canadian  surveyor  witnessed  the  pay- 
ment of  the  four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  by  the  pur- 
chaser, and  when  the  business  was  completed  he  asked  him 
how  he  had  succeeded. 

"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  pretty  well." 

"  Have  you  any  objections  to  telling  me  what  you  have 
done?  " 

"  Xo,"  he  replied.  "  I  drifted  about  twenty-four  feet 
long  by  fourteen  feet  wide,  and  cleaned  up  eight  thousand 
dollars." 

-'  I  know  the  area  of  your  claim,"  said  the  surveyor, 
"  and  assuming  that  your  claim  is  all  equally  rich,  we  will 
see  how  much  you  will  take  out  of  it." 

Some  of  these  miners  were  not  good  at  figures,  and 
more  of  them  had  been  too  busy  and  excited  taking  out  the 
gold  to  drop  into  mathematical  calculations.  But  it  was  a 
simple  problem.  Given  the  length  and  width  of  the  claim, 
the  product  gave  the  area  in  square  feet.  Dividing  this  by 
the  result  of  multiplying  24  by  14,  and  multiplying  the 
quotient  by  eight  thousand  dollars,  would  give  the  value  of 
the  dirt  in  the  whole  claim.  The  surveyor  went  through 
the  process. 

"  It's  two  million  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,"  he 
said. 

"  Mv  God!  "  said  the  man,  "  what  will  I  do  with  all  that 


?  " 


money 

"  Oh,  I  wouldn't  worry,"  said  the  surveyor,  "  for  you 
arc  not  likely  to  be  troubled  to  that  extent.     It  is  hardly 


•'ENOUGH   TO   KILL   YOU  "  327 

possible  that  your  claim  will  average  anything  like  that  in 
richness.  But  assuming  that  it  will  average  one-quarter  as 
rich,  you  will  still  have  six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Or, 
assuming  that  there  is  a  narrow  strip  in  your  claim  only 
fourteen  feet  wide  which  you  have  just  happened  to  strike 
on,  and  that  it  continues  through  the  length  of  your  claim, 
which  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  you  will  still  have 
eighty-three  thousand  dollars,  which  is  enough  to  kill  you." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

STORIES  OF  GREAT  HARDSHIPS  AND  SCANTY  REWARDS 

—  A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  KLONDIKE  — CLAIM  JUMPERS  — 
AN  OLD  SLAVE'S  LUCKY  STRIKE. 

Gold  by  the  Ton  —  The  Unfortunate  Ones  —  Alaska  Mining  a  Lottery 

—  Deceptive  Placers  —  Wearj'  Men  Who  Show  No  Nuggets  —  Ex- 
perience of  an  Old  Scotchman  —  Mining  for  Forty-Two  Years  — 
A  "  Homestake  "  at  Last  —  Poor  Luck  Still  Followed  Him  — 
Others  Less  Fortunate  —  Feeling  of  the  Old  Miners  When  They 
Saw  the  Tenderfeet  Taking  Out  Gold  — A  Little  too  Much — 
Hardships  of  a  Miner  —  His  First  Good  Luck  —  Neal  Mc Arthur 
and  His  Narrow  Escapes  —  Scarcely  Making  a  Living  —  Catching 
at  a  Straw  —  Hard  Conditions  of  a  Prospector's  Life  —  Troubles 
after  Gold  is  Found  —  The  Massachusetts  Man  and  His  "  Boy  "  — 
Threatened  by  Claim-Jumpers  —  The  Old  Man  Shot  —  The  Boy 
Handles  the  Gun  and  Turns  Out  to  Be  a  Pretty  Girl  —  A  Heroic 
Act  —  Queer  People  —  An  Old  Slave  from  down  in  Georgia  —  His 
Lucky  Strike. 

IT  is  impossible  to  adequately  describe  the  effect  upon 
Dawson  of  these  revelations  of  the  rich  character  of 
the  mines  which  came  when  the  sluices  were  cleaned 
up  in  the  months  of  May  and  June.  Gold  was  brought 
in  from  the  creeks  by  the  ton,  and,  as  one  man  expressed  it, 
was  "  stacked  up  by  the  cord  "'  with  the  trading  companies 
for  safe  keeping.  ]\[en  who  had  stumbled  over  the  rough 
trail  in  September,  poor  and  disheartened,  disgusted  with 
their  condition  and  sick  of  the  country,  came  down  in  the 
spring  as  milliouaires  and  threw  their  gold  dust  about  like 
so  much  grass  seed.     But  it  must  not  be  thought  be- 

(328) 


GOLD   MINING  A   LOTTERY  329 

cause  so  mucli  gold  dust  was  in  evidence  that  every  one 
was  rich.  The  fortunate  ones  always  become  famous,  but 
little  is  heard  of  those  who  work  as  hard  and  gain  but  little. 

These  Alaskan  and  Northwest  Territory  gold  fields  con- 
stitute as  odd  a  prize  drawing  proposition  as  ever  was  con- 
ceived of.  It  can  be  likened  to  nothing  that  admits  of  a 
better  comparison  than  a  lottery.  Old  miners  have  looked 
along  the  creeks  for  years,  and  their  practiced  eyes  have 
detected  colors  in  many  places.  Selecting  spots,  they  have 
worked,  sometimes  half  frozen,  oftener  half  starved.  The 
season  has  closed,  the  water  has  run,  and  it  has  been  found, 
time  and  time  again,  that  expenses  have  barely  been  paid. 
Only  a  little  distance  away  men  rushed  in,  staked  oft"  any 
part  of  a  creek's  bed  they  could  get,  and  took  sacks  of  gold 
from  the  most  uninviting  bit  of  earth  any  one  ever  saw. 
The  lucky  one  did  not  strike  the  pocket  because  of  his 
ability  as  a  miner.  Chance  favored  him,  that  was  all.  In 
nineteen  cases  out  of  twenty  the  miners  had  missed  it  and 
waited  another  year  for  a  new  trial.  Finally  came  the 
Klondike. 

The  placers  are  the  most  deceiving  I  have  ever  seen. 
Imagine  a  man  working  on  good  "  color  "  and  finding  the 
ground  worth  only  a  few  dollars  per  day,  and  then  turning 
to  a  waste  of  mud  and  moss  with  no  surface  indications  and 
unearthing  a  bonanza!  This  seems  to  be  the  situation  all 
over  Alaska.  The  man  who  goes  there  to  mine  does  so  at 
the  expense  of  health  and  happiness,  and  it  is  with  him  a 
question  of  making  a  fortune  quickly,  or  taking  chances 
with  death. 

About  Dawson  were  scores  of  men  who  could  weigh 
their  gold  by  the  bucketful  and  who  valued  their  claims  at 
millions.  Four  hundred  valuable  diggings  were  stretched 
20 


;330  THE    HOMESTAKE 

along  the  creeks,  and  every  digging  was  a  fabulous  mine  of 
gold.  Yet  there  were  weary  men  who  had  come  to  Daw- 
son after  searching  the  country  throughout,  and  never  a 
nugget  could  they  show  for  their  toil  and  their  long  tramp 
over  broken  ground  into  a  country  whose  natural  disad- 
vantages are  exceeded  by  those  of  no  other  place  on  earth. 

One  old  miner  there  was,  a  Glasgow  Scotchman,  noted 
for  his  steady,  upright,  moral  life.  He  was  sixty -four  years 
old. 

''  How"  long  have  you  been  mining?  "  he  was  asked,  one 
day. 

"  Forty-two  years,"  he  replied. 

"AVhere?"^ 

"  Everyw^here  in  North  America  wdiere  mining  has  been 
done." 

"  And  you  never  made  a  homestake?  " 

"  I  never  made  more  than  a  living,  and  very  often  a 
scant  one  at  that,"  he  replied,  somewdiat  mournfully. 

The  miners  of  the  Yukon  speak  of  a  "  homestake," 
meaning  the  accumulation  of  enough  gold  to  enable  them 
to  return  to  '^  God's  country,"  as  they  call  the  United 
States,  and  live  the  rest  of  their  days  comfortably.  This 
old  Scotchman  had  been  searching  through  the  Y'ukon  val- 
ley for  ten  years  and  had  at  last  come  to  look  forward  to  the 
possibility  of  dying  and  being  buried  there.  He  had 
thought  —  and  it  must  have  been  a  bitter  thought,  too  — 
that  in  his  last  days  he  might  have  to  be  assisted  by  his 
friends  as  he  had  often  helped  others. 

But  he  was  at  last  fortunate  enough  to  locate  a  good 
claim  in  the  Klondike  district  with  another  old  Scotchman 
who  had  had  a  similar  experience.  They  could  not  afford 
to  w^ork  it  much,  but  when  March  came  and  the  prices  of 


fortune's  tardy  favors         331 

mines  rose  to  such  fabulous  figures,  they  sokl  out  for  twenty 
thousand  dollars  —  ten  thousand  dollars  each,  after  over 
forty  years  of  hardships,  much  of  the  time  cut  off  from  all 
associations,  and  deprived  of  home  and  family  life,  and  the 
pleasures  of  existence  amid  civilized  surroundings. 

But  even  this  tardy  favor  from  fortune  carried  with  it 
an  element  of  that  poor  luck  which  had  followed  them  for  so 
many  years.  Had  they  waited  twenty  days  longer  they 
could  have  sold  their  claim  for  forty  thousand  dollars  just  as 
easily  as  they  had  sold  it  for  half  that  sum.  Still,  they  were 
glad  to  acquire  even  their  little  fortune,  and  they  embraced 
the  first  o]iportunity  to  leave  the  country  and  return  to  a 
civilized  land  to  end  their  days.  They  had  at  last  made 
their  homestake. 

Others  were  far  from  being  as  fortunate  as  that.  There 
were  men  who  had  been  knocking  around  the  mountains 
for  years,  and  who  came  too  late  to  secure  claims,  working 
about  Dawson  for  anything  they  could  get,  and  though  they 
make  good  wages  in  such  a  booming  place,  it  was  little  more 
than  enough  to  keep  soul  and  body  together  at  the  prices 
they  were  compelled  to  pay  for  the  stalest  kind  of  pro- 
visions. 

Scores  of  practiced  miners  came  into  the  camps  that  first 
winter  who  could  not  even  secure  a  lay  on  any  of  the  rich 
placers.  They  were  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  io  work 
for  some  of  the  lucky  tonderfeet  who  had  stumbled  into  the 
golden  valley.  Their  feelings  during  that  long  winter,  as, 
exposed  to  the  fierce  blasts  of  Arctic  weather,  they  toiled  in 
the  frozen  shafts  or  turned  tlie  crude  windlasses,  and  know 
that  the  lucky  fellow  whose  claim  they  were  working  was 
enabled  to  pay  them  by  washing  out  every  evening  a 
few  buckets  of  the  rich  earth  they  were  thawing,  may  be 


332  THE   HARDEST   EXPERIENCE   OF   HIS   LIFE 

imagined.  Tlicy  had  searched,  some  of  them  for  years, 
along  the  Yukon  for  such  places  as  this,  and  when  it  was 
found  they  could  get  only  fifteen  dollars  a  day  while  a  lucky 
tenderfoot  was  taking  out  thousands. 

But  they  did  not  grumble  at  fate.  None  knew  so  well 
as  they  that  mining  is  a  gamble  anyway,  and  those  who  had 
had  the  good  fortune  to  find  the  prize  were  entitled  to  it.  It 
was  a  little  too  much  for  their  hardened  resignation  to  this 
blind  fate,  however,  when  they  were  asked  to  work  for  less 
than  fifteen  dollars  a  day  in  the  new  placers.  To  be  sure, 
they  had  often  worked  in  diggings  where  they  had  earned 
more  than  their  employers,  but  when  these  tenderfeet,  who 
needed  the  experienced  men  to  work  their  rich  properties, 
asked  them  to  labor  for  less  than  fifteen  dollars  in  dirt  that 
frequently  ran  over  a  hundred  dollars  to  the  pan,  it  was  a 
little  too  much.  The  diificulty  was  finally  adjusted  so  that 
the  experienced  miners  received  the  high  rate  of  wages 
while  the  inexperienced  received  about  ten  dollars  a  day. 

I  knew  one  young  man  who  had  been  a  sailor  and  had 
roughed  it  in  about  every  way  possible,  finally  bringing  up 
on  the  Yukon,  where,  he  said,  he  had  the  hardest  experience 
he  had  ever  met  in  his  life. 

"  I've  known  what  it  is  to  go  hungry  for  a  month  at  a 
time,"  he  said,  as  he  was  taking  the  steamboat  to  go  home 
for  a  visit,  having  made  a  little  money  for  the  first  time 
since  he  came  into  the  valley.  "  I  know  what  the  chance 
for  getting  rich  in  this  country  is,"  he  continued,  "  and 
although  I  have  got  enough  at  last  to  enable  me  to  go  home 
for  a  little  visit  after  all  these  years,  I  wouldn't  again  go 
through  what  I  have  endured  here  for  the  best  mine  in  the 
Klondike.  Two  years  ago  T  landed  at  Forty  YFile  with  my 
partner,   and  we  worked  hard   and   often   went   terriblv 


A  GENEROUS  PIONEER  333 

luingry.  When  we  heard  of  the  strike  on  Bonanza,  I 
wanted  to  go,  but  in  the  eight  months  we  had  been  working 
we  had  taken  out  not  more  than  thirty  dollars  of  clean 
money.  Ill  luck  seemed  to  follow  us  wherever  we  went. 
Finally  we  got  up  to  Dawson  and  were  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  a  lay  on  an  Eldorado  claim.  After  working  a 
wliile  my  partner  became  disgusted  and  left,  for  none  of  the 
big  strikes  had  been  made  then.  It  was  the  hardest  mining 
we  had  ever  struck.  After  a  time  we  found  some  good  in- 
dications, and  by  the  end  of  the  season  we  were  able  to  take 
out  enough  so  that  I  had  six  thousand  dollars  for  my  share. 
That  is  the  first  piece  of  good  luck  I  have  had  in  my  two 
years  in  Alaska,  and  it  does  not  begin  to  pay  me  for  what  I 
have  suffered." 

Jack  McQuesten,  who  is  called  the  "  father  of  the  coun- 
try," has  comparatively  very  little  to  show  for  his  long  life 
and  many  hardships  on  the  Yukon.  He  has  done  fairly 
well  as  a  trader,  and  by  his  generosity  has  helped  many  of 
the  old  miners  of  the  country  in  their  desperate  straits. 
McQuesten  went  to  Dawson,  but  not  till  the  choice  ground 
had  been  taken  up.  His  claim  panned  out  so  well,  how- 
ever, that  for  the  first  time  in  twenty-six  years  he  paid  a  visit 
to  the  states,  carrying  with  him  about  ten  thousand  dollars. 
ISTeal  McArthur  was  one  of  the  old  miners  in  the  country. 
In  recounting  his  experiences  to  a  party  of  friends,  he  said: 

"  I  have  been  mining  for  more  than  thirty  years,  but 
not  until  I  struck  Alaska  over  nine  years  ago  did  I  begin  to 
know  what  suffering  was.  It  would  be  impossible  for  me 
to  tell  all  I  have  gone  through  and  the  many  times  that 
death  has  been  near  me.  I  recall  one  instance  that  may 
serve  to  illustrate  what  the  people  are  to  expect  if  tliey  rush 
unprepared  into  the  Yukon  country.     It  was  in  the  fall  of 


334  A   TERRIBLE  JOURNEY 

1881.  Winter  had  eomc  on  earlier  than  nsiial,  and,  in  con- 
sequence, only  a  few  boats  were  able  to  reach  tlie  points 
along  the  river.  In  the  dead  of  winter  our  provisions  gave 
out,  and  it  seemed  as  though  we  must  all  die.  Finally  it  was 
agreed  that  we  must  go  to  St.  Michael,  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  miles  away,  if  we  hoped  to  escape  with  our  lives. 
I  cannot  begin  to  recount  the  horrors  of  that  journey.  It 
was  bitter  cold,  and  to  make  matters  worse  we  did  not  have 
the  proper  clothing.  We  were  weeks  in  reaching  our 
destination,  and  we  were  more  dead  than  alive  when  we 
got  there.  I  have  worked  all  through  the  diggings  of 
Alaska,  but  I  hardly  made  a  living.  Some  seasons  we  took 
out  next  to  nothing,  and  then  next  year  we  would  strike  a 
pocket  caiTying  enough  gold  to  keep  us  going  for  a  time. 
Last  fall,  when  the  news  reached  us  of  the  strike  on  the 
Klondike,  all  who  could  packed  up  their  effects  and  hastened 
to  the  new  fields.  It  was  like  a  drowning  man  catching  at  a 
straw.  We  were  ready  to  do  anything  that  promised  a  re- 
turn. I  was  fortunate  enough  to  locate  a  good  claim  and 
came  away  with  enough  to  last  me  the  rest  my  days. 

"  There  are  men  in  this  country  who  are  poor,  and  who 
will  remain  so.  It  has  not  been  their  '  luck,'  as  they  call  it, 
to  strike  it  rich,  but  I  may  say  that  the  country  offers  to 
men  of  great  fortitude,  steadiness,  and  some  intelligence  an 
opportunity  to  make  more  money  in  a  given  time  tiian  they 
could  possibly  make  anywhere  else.  You  have,  of  course, 
a  good  deal  to  contend  with;  your  patience  will  be  sorely 
tried,  for  the  conditions  are  so  unique  that  they  have  sur- 
prised many  who  have  gone  in  hopefully  and  have  left  in 
disgust.  There  are  many  obstacles  and  disagreeable  con- 
ditions in  prospecting." 

Troubles  are  not  certain  to  cease  when  gold  in  rich  quan- 


UNSCRUPULOUS  CLAIM  JUMPERS  335 

titles  is  found  and  all  tliat  remains  is  to  get  it  out.  In 
Alaska  and  the  Northwest  Territory  now,  as  has  generally 
been  the  case  in  valuable  gold  regions,  there  are  men  who 
are  desperate  and  unscrupulous,  and  who,  under  some  pre- 
text, may  seek  to  deprive  a  weak  man  of  his  rights.  In  the 
rush  and  excitement  attending  the  development  of  the 
Klondike  district  such  cases  were  too  commonly  overlooked, 
even  by  the  justice-loving  miners  who  were  too  hard  at  work 
and  too  busy  to  mind  the  troubles  of  others.  There  was 
some  genuine  heroism  displayed  in  defending  claims.        ^^-^ 

Along  in  April  there  came  into  one  of  the  camp^  it. 
elderly  man  accompanied  by  a  boy,  as  we  thought,  about 
fifteen  years  old.  We  thought  him  one  of  the  nicest  boys 
we  ever  saw.  He  and  his  father  staked  out  a  claim  on  one 
of  the  new  streams.  The  old  man  said  he  came  from  Mas- 
sachusetts. He  was  a  quiet,  peaceable  man,  minded  his  own 
business  and  paid  no  attention  to  anybody.  But  a  few  days 
after  he  commenced  work  on  his  claim  it  got  around  that  he 
had  struck  three-dollar  dirt. 

Some  of  the  mean  characters  knocking  about  the  place 
thought  they  might  run  the  old  fellow  off  his  claim.  So 
one  night  two  or  three  of  them  went  to  the  tent,  shoved  their 
guns  in  the  faces  of  the  man  and  his  boy,  and  told  them  if 
they  didn't  get  off  that  claim  within  twenty-four  hours  they 
would  be  shot.  The  old  man  said  nothing  to  them,  so  one  of 
them  owned  up  afterward,  but  just  lay  there,  and  the  boy 
kept  quiet,  too. 

The  old  man,  whose  name  was  Henry  AYilliams,  talked 
it  over  with  his  boy,  and  between  them  they  agreed  that  they 
would  stick  it  out.  So  they  took  turns  lying  awake  and 
watching  for  the  claim-jumpers.  Three  or  four  nights 
aftorAvards  the  jumpers  came.     The  boy  was  asleep  and  the 


330  A  girl's  heroism 

old  man  was  on  watch.  Before  the  old  man  knew  what  had 
happened  they  had  shot  him  in  the  shoulder.  The  boy 
heard  the  shot,  and  out  he  jumped  with  a  gun  in  each  hand, 
dropped  two  of  the  fellows,  and  wounded  another.  The 
fourth  man  ran  away  without  firing  a  shot.  Then  the  boy 
fixed  the  old  man  up  a  little  and  came  down  into  the  town 
and  told  what  had  happened. 

The  men  assembled  right  away  and  went  out  to  the  old 
man's  camp  and  brought  him  back  to  town,  fixed  him  up 
+lie  best  they  could,  and  found  that  he  was  not  very  badly 
.:.~T  After  they  had  found  this  out  and  told  the  boy  that 
his  father  was  all  right,  he  dropped  to  the  floor  as  if  he  was 
shot.     They  picked  him  up  and  laid  him  in  a  bunk. 

And  then  they  found  out  that  he  wasn't  a  boy  at  all,  but 
a  girl,  and  a  pretty  girl,  too. 

As  I  heard  the  story,  the  man  had  been  veiw  unfortunate 
in  the  East,  and  determined  to  go  to  Alaska.  His  wife  was 
dead,  and  he  had  only  one  child,  this  girl,  and  did  not  know 
what  to  do  with  her.  But  she  was  determined  to  come  with 
him  as  a  boy,  and  she  made  her  father  agree  to  it.  There 
was  nothing  in  Dawson  too  good  for  them  after  that,  and 
that  girl  could  have  married  any  unmarried  man  in  town 
had  she  chosen  to,  and  there  was  some  talk  of  her  doing  so. 
There  are  plenty  of  opportunities  for  such  romances  in  the 
Klondike. 

And  many  queer  people  were  to  be  found.  It  seemed 
as  if  nearly  every  nation  of  the  earth  was  represented  and 
everybody  was  as  good  as  everybody  else.  It  made  no  dif- 
ference as  to  color,  or  pre^^ious  condition.  There  was  one 
old  fellow  who  had  once  been  a  slave,  and  his  wool  was  as 
gray  as  a  sheep's  pelt.  He  had  come  into  the  Yukon  valley 
with  a  freighting  outfit  and  had  no  idea  of  trying  for  gold. 


A  QUEER  OLD   DARKEY  337 

But  when  he  reached  the  neighborhood  of  Dawson,  old  as 
he  was,  he  contracted  the  fever  and  staked  out  a  claim. 

"  You  know  that  old  black  fellow  down  the  creek,"  said 
Joe  one  day  when  he  had  returned  from  witnessing  some  of 
the  spring  sluicing. 

"  Yes,"  I  said.     "  What  about  him  ?  " 

"  Well,  you  may  believe  it  or  not,  but  the  old  rascal  has 
cleaned  up  thirty  thousand  dollars  in  gold  dust.  You  ought 
to  hear  him  talk  about  what  he  is  going  to  do  with  it.  His 
name,  he  says,  is  St.  John  Atherton,  and  he  comes  from 
down  in  Georgia, '  just  a  piece  out  of  Atlanta.'  The  daugh- 
ter of  the  man  who  owned  him  during  the  war  is  living  there 
yet,  he  says,  on  the  old  plantation,  but  very  poor.  The  old 
fellow  says  he  is  going  back  to  buy  that  plantation,  and  then 
he  is  going  to  have  that  woman  do  nothing  but  live  like  a 
lady  all  the  rest  of  her  days.  I  believe  he  means  just  what 
he  says.  He's  a  queer  old  darky,  but  he  seems  to  have  a 
s'ood  heart." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

INCIDENTS   OF  THE    TRAIL  — DEATH  AND   BURIAL  OF  A 
BABY  — A  WOMAN'S  THRILLING  EXPERIENCES. 

News  of  the  Outside  World  —  When  the  Ice  Goes  Out  of  the  River  — 
It  "Marks  Time"  —  An  Unpleasant  Sight  for  a  Hungry  ]\[an  — 
Grub  at  Last  —  Happy  Incident  of  a  Yukon  Honeymoon  —  Mrs. 
McKay's  Story  —  Death  of  a  Baby  —  The  Little  Casket  and  the 
Grave  by  Lake  Lindeman  —  Misfortunes  of  John  Matthews  —  His 
Troubles  Over  —  Impression  of  the  Trail  —  Strong  Men  Dismayed 
at  the  Outlook  —  Trying  to  Look  Cheerful  —  Learning  of  the 
Klondike  Discoveries  —  Taken  for  a  Man  —  Over  the  Summit  — 
Ravenous  Appetites  of  the  Men  —  Through  the  Canon  and  the 
Rapids  —  A  Woman's  Experience  —  Clinging  to  the  Boat  in  Terror 
—  In  the  Presence  of  Death  —  Quick  Decisions  of  Gold-Seekers  — 
Many  Unfit  for  Work  in  Alaska  —  The  Situation  Facing  the  Ten- 
derfoot —  AVhere  Shall  He  Find  Gold?  — "Did  You  Take  This 
for  a  Picnic  ?  " 


ONE  of  the  blessings  of  the  influx  of  people  during 
the  summer  and  fall  of  1897  lay  in  the  opportu- 
nity it  afforded  us  of  learning  what  was  transpir- 
ing in  the  outside  world.  Up  to  the  first  of  July  we  knew 
just  as  much  about  cuiTent  events  in  the  United  States  as 
the  people  of  the  United  States  knew  about  the  Klondike. 
There  were  a  few  stories  which  leaked  through,  nobody 
knew  how.  One  does  not  need  to  go  far  away  from  the 
river  to  acquire  a  full  measure  of  that  bliss  which  comes 
from  ignorance.  I  have  heard  of  a  cultivated  German,  a 
scientific  hermit  who  has  long  lived  among  a  colony  of  In- 

(338) 


WHEN  THE  ICE   MOVES   OUT  339 

dians  in  the  northern  part  of  Alaska,  who  did  not  hear  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  war  until  three  years  ago.  It  is  not 
strange.  It  is  the  best  country  in  the  world  for  a  hermit 
to  whom  seclusion  is  the  principal  thing  in  life. 

It  is  a  great  event  on  the  Yukon  when  the  ice  really  be- 
gins to  go  out.  It  means  that  in  a  few  days  a  little  steamer 
will  come  puffing  up  the  river.  The  old  "  Yukoner,"  as  a 
usual  thing,  does  not  await  this  event  with  any  impatience 
for  the  news  of  the  outside  world,  but  with  an  eagerness  for 
something  to  eat.  By  the  first  of  June  he  has  ceased  to  look 
forward  with  delight  to  the  day  when  he  shall  roll  in  wealth, 
and  has  begun  to  anticipate  with  mingled  emotions  the  time 
when  he  can  get  a  square  meal.  Having  secured  that  he 
can  afford  to  be  social  to  new  arrivals. 

But  the  ice  in  the  Yukon  generally  has  an  exasperating 
way  of  moving  out.  As  the  river  rises  some  six  hundred 
miles  south  of  the  Arctic  Circle  and  flows  northwest  till  it 
meets  that  frigid  geographical  device,  and  as  the  mouth  of 
the  river  usually  remains  frozen  till  the  first  of  June  or 
later,  the  ice  in  the  upper  part  does  little  for  a  month  but 
"  mark  time."  This  it  does  by  breaking  into  cakes  which, 
on  acooimt  of  the  dam  of  solid  ice  below,  slide  one  over  the 
other,  and  the  force  of  the  swift  current  and  ice  above 
finally  results  in  such  pressure  that  the  cakes  stand  up  al- 
most perpendicularly,  sometmies  ten  feet  high.  The  great 
mass  will  move  along  gradually,  like  people  coming  out  of  a 
crowded  theater,  and  like  them  will  finally  get  out  —  all 
except  a  few  straggling  cakes  which  for  some  reason  were 
belated.  This  glacial  aspect  of  the  river  makes  a  very 
pretty  sight,  but  it  would  be  pleasanter  to  watch  when  less 
hungry.  The  people  on  the  river  generally  rush  to  the 
banks  when  they  hear  that  the  ice  has  ceased  marking  time 


340  BRIDAL  CONGRATULATIONS 

and  is  really  going,  and  they  will  stand  for  hours  and  watch 
it,  though  I  know  in  my  case  the  thought  uppermost  in  mind 
was  something  more  than  that  of  the  piece  of  moose  ham 
which  tasted  as  if  it  might  have  been  cured  during  the  late 
War  of  the  Rebellion. 

"  Grub  "  came  at  last.  AVe  rarely  spoke  of  edibles  or 
provisions  on  the  Yukon.  It  was  grub.  Being  an  essential 
of  which  we  often  stand  in  dire  need,  a  short,  crisp,  forceful 
word  was  required  —  something  which  could  be  pronounced 
quickly  even  if  the  thing  itself  came  slowly  and  in  small 
lots.  Dawson  gave  itself  up  to  square  meals  for  a  time, 
though  the  gold  excitement  was  at  its  height,  and  soon  it 
began  to  be  visited  by  new  arrivals  from  over  the  pass. 
There  were  some  old  acquaintances,  of  course.  Some  of  the 
first  were  those  who  had  been  on  the  Yukon,  but  had  gone 
out  for  the  winter,  and  there  were  some  peculiar  and  in- 
teresting incidents,  of  course,  following  such  a  rich  season. 

James  McNamee  and  Charles  M.  Lamb  had  been  part- 
ners in  Alaskan  prospecting  operations.  They  had  ex- 
plored several  creeks  in  the  far  north,  but  fortune  had  not 
smiled  upon  them,  and  in  the  summer  of  1896  Lamb  decided 
to  return  to  California  and  get  married.  He  did  so,  return- 
ing with  his  wife  the  next  June.  When  he  and  his  bride 
stepped  from  their  little  boat  at  Dawson,  he  was  greeted  by 
his  partner: 

"  Lamb,  you're  worth  a  fortune.  Up  in  the  cabin  is 
thirty-seven  thousand  dollars,  which  represents  your  in- 
terest in  the  amount  of  money  that  we  have  taken  out  of  the 
claims  since  you  went  after  a  ^\^fe." 

It  was  a  very  happy  incident  of  a  honevmoon  in  the 
Yukon, 

Of  course  there  were  alwavs  interesting  stories  of  ex- 


A   LITTLE   GRAVE   BY   THE   WAYSIDE  341 

periences  on  the  trail  to  be  told  by  the  newcomers.  Among 
those  who  arrived  about  the  first  of  July  was  Mr.  McKay, 
one  of  Alaska's  pioneer  traders,  and  his  wife.  She  said  it 
was  the  grandest  trip  she  had  ever  made  in  her  life.  Still  it 
had  its  sad  incidents.  One  morning  about  the  first  of  June, 
while  she  was  at  Lake  Lindeman,  a  Mr.  Card,  who,  with  his 
wife  and  child,  was  making  the  trip  in,  and  camping  at  that 
place,  came  to  her  t-ent  and  said  that  their  boy  was  dead. 
They  were  young  people  and  this  was  their  first  child,  a 
baby  of  seven  months. 

"  V\^e  all  showed  our  sympathy,"  said  Mrs.  McKay,  "  by 
helping  all  we  could  in  their  distress.  AVe  made  a  little 
casket  of  rough  wood,  padded  it  with  a  soft  blanket,  and 
covered  it  with  some  black  cloth,  lining  it  with  white  muslin. 
I  laid  the  baby  in  it,  and  then  went  to  one  of  my  trunks,  and 
from  my  best  hat  took  some  French  "sdolets,  which  I  ar- 
ranged about  the  baby,  putting  some  in  his  little  clasped 
hand.  AVe  put  up  a  small  tent  near  the  bereaved  parents, 
and  there  the  body  lay  till  the  next  day,  when  we  buried  it. 
The  little  grave  was  made  by  tender  hands,  and  a  wooden 
tablet  at  the  head  tells  the  traveler  who  lies  there.  We  also 
built  a  little  picket  fence  to  protect  the  resting-place,  and 
every  one  who  goes  over  the  trail  will  see  it  marking  the 
close  of  a  brief  career." 

This  gives  a  little  glimpse  of  the  incidents  of  that  hard 
trail  amid  the  most  wonderful  scenery  in  America,  and  is  a 
suggestion  of  what  may  happen  —  of  what  disheartening 
events  did  happen  when  the  great  rush  of  two  months  later 
was  inaugurated. 

On  June  13th,  at  Lake  Bennett,  there  was  another  sad 
occurrence.  A  man  named  John  ^Fatthews,  who,  with  his 
father,  had  packed  his  outfit  over  the  mountain  passes,  ex- 


342  A  TRAGEDY   OF  THE  TRAIL 

perieneing  all  the  slavish  drudgery  of  the  task,  had  at  last 
reached  the  lakes,  lie  could  see  the  watery  way  to  the  goal 
stretched  out  before  him.  The  sun  was  shining.  It 
seemed  that  all  the  hardships  had  been  endured,  and  that 
the  latter  part  of  the  journey  would  be  easy,  floating  down 
the  river,  turbulent  in  places,  of  course,  but  the  water  was 
to  be  his  servant.  He  built  his  boat,  loaded  it  with  his  out- 
fit, and  started.  All  went  well  till  the  boat  struck  the  whirl 
of  the  rapids  and  was  swamped.  His  outfit  was  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  river  as  ours  had  been.  Where  the  accident  oc- 
cured,  however,  the  water  was  shallow  and  they  managed  to 
recover  most  of  the  goods,  though  nearly  all  of  them  were 
spoiled.  Matthews  and  his  father  went  into  their  tent  and 
were  cleaning  up  their  guns.  While  the  latter's  back  was 
turned  a  shot  was  heard.  Blue  smoke  came  curling  from 
the  tent  flaps,  and  the  distressed  father  saw  his  son  lying  on 
the  gTOund,  his  head  torn  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  his 
gun.  His  troubles  were  over.  A  meeting  was  called  and 
the  poor  boy  was  buried  there  amid  the  silent  and  dreary 
hills. 

A  woman  who  arrived  early  in  the  summer  with  her 
husband  and  her  son  told  an  interesting  story  of  her  ex- 
periences and  impressions,  and  it  gives  a  true  picture  of 
some  of  the  trials  of  the  trail,  even  before  the  great  rush. 

"  Our  troubles  began,"  she  said,  "  when  we  reached 
Dyea.  The  air  rang  with  noise  and  confusion.  There  was 
no  wharf  there.  The  steamship  lay  at  anchor  two  miles 
from  shore  —  that  is,  from  low-water  mark.  Beyond  this 
point  up  to  dry  land  there  was  a  sea  of  mud  —  a  dismal 
stretch  of  mud  flats  wide  away.  Everything  had  to  be 
taken  ashore  in  small  boats  and  landed  in  the  mud  or  on  the 
rocks.     They  had  to  take  out  freight  as  fast  as  it  was  landed 


A  DEPRESSING   OUTLOOK  345 

from  tlie  boats  and  carry  it  above  high  tide.  Seventy-five 
or  one  hundred  men  were  ashore  engaged  in  this  kind  of 
work.  There  were  a  lot  of  lazy  fellows  among  them,  men 
who  wouldn't  work,  who  were  born  tired,  and  what  on  earth 
they  ever  came  up  there  for,  where  there  is  nothing  but  the 
hardest  kind  of  work  to  do,  I  can't  imagine.  I  don't  know 
how  they  ever  expect  to  reach  the  Yukon,  or  what  they  ex- 
pect to  do  when  they  get  here.  The  horses  and  cows  had  to 
swim  ashore.  It  seemed  cruel  to  plunge  them  into  the  icy 
water  and  compel  them  to  swim  such  a  distance. 

"How  dismal  appeared  the  outlook!  Our  sun'ound- 
ings  seemed  to  mirror  our  feelings.  The  wild  coast  scenery 
presented  no  trace  of  beauty.  The  dreary  ocean,  the  awful 
mountains  piled  on  mountains,  the  rock-ribbed  shores  with 
their  mantle  of  snow  and  ice,  and  the  dismal  mud  flats,  all 
conspired  to  make  us  feel  blue.  If  I  had  been  faint- 
hearted, I  should  have  felt  like  giving  up  then  and  there. 
Strong  men  were  dismayed  at  the  outlook.  Many  gave  up, 
sold  their  outfits,  and  went  back.  One  steerage  passenger 
offered  his  outfit  for  his  passage  back.  Such  pigeon-hearted 
men  —  men  who  haven't  the  courage  to  say  boo  to  a  goose 
—  are  not  cut  out  for  miners.  But  I  just  thought  to  my- 
self, '  I  will  never  say  die.' 

"  Such  a  time  as  we  had  unloading  our  goods!  A  part 
were  put  on  the  tide  flats,  and  the  rest  on  the  rocks,  nearly 
five  miles  from  shore.  Some  of  our  packages  were  washed 
off  the  rocks.  Some  people  lost  a  lot  of  things.  One  man 
had  two  thousand  gallons  of  whisky  aboard  the  ship.  He 
found  many  of  the  kegs  floating  on  the  water,  also  a  lot  of 
cigars.  We  had  to  go  on  shore  before  they  were  through 
unloading.  The  goods  were  not  checked  off,  as  they  should 
have  been,  but  were  throAvn  out  of  the  boats  into  the  mud 


346  TRYING   TO   BE   CHEERFUL 

and  on  tlio  rocks  in  ntter  confusion.  The  men  had  to  work 
two  nights  and  two  days  to  segregate  their  freight  and  to 
save  it  from  being  washed  away  by  the  tide.  We  lost  a 
sack  of  hardware,  three  sacks  of  feed  for  the  horses,  and 
several  bales  of  hay.  We  also  lost  one  hundred  pounds  of 
bacon.     However,  we  fared  better  than  we  expected. 

"  I  felt  pretty  blue,  though  I  tried  to  look  cheerful.  I 
could  never  have  imagined  a  country  to  be  so  desolate, 
cheerless,  and  dismal.  Xature,  sad,  melancholy,  and  woful, 
seemed  even  to  have  stamped  her  seal  upon  the  Indians  and 
their  dogs,  which  latter,  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  death 
song  of  the  winds,  were  incessantly  howling.  And  such 
lugubrious  howls  I  never  heard  before.  But  it  just  made 
my  heart  ache  to  see  how  cnielly  they  were  treated.  Men 
seemed  to  become  heartless  up  there.  The  environment, 
perhaps,  makes  them  so. 

"  Well,  we  started  out  in  a  snow  storm,  but  under  foot  it 
was  nothing  but  slush  and  water  and  bare  ground.  We  did 
not  arrive  a  day  too  soon.  We  were  afraid  the  summit 
would  be  bad,  although  on  account  of  the  elevation  the  snow 
might  be  harder.  I  felt  quite  at  home  in  our  cosy  little 
tent,  and  baked  bread  and  cookies  in  our  little  sheet-iron 
'  Yukon  stove  '  for  the  first  time.  It  was  a  perfect  little 
jew^el.  I  kept  a  pot  of  baked  pork  and  beans  on  hand  all  the 
time,  but  for  the  first  two  days  ashore  all  we  had  was  tea, 
bacon,  and  biscuits.  We  would  not  have  had  even  that 
limited  fare  had  I  not  taken  it  from  home. 

"  '  Homesick  any  yet? '  asked  my  husband  one  evening. 

"  '  Xot  I,'  I  replied,  but  I  had  a  hard  struggle. 

"  We  had  not  gone  far  before  we  met  some  people  com- 
ing out  and  received  the  first  news  of  the  Klondike.  Then 
we  were  elated  beyond  measure  over  the  prospect.     Every 


AN    EMBARRASSED    PILGRIM  347 

Liirden  seemed  lighter  now;  every  hardship  less  severe. 
Hope  lightened  np  the  gloom  of  our  surroundings  and 
thrilled  every  nerve  with  joy.  Nothing  fatigued  us,  noth- 
ing tired  us  then.  I  really  felt  very  glad  we  had  come,  and 
the  tent  even  became  quite  pleasant. 

"There  were  five  women  on  the  trail  going  over  to  the 
Yukon,  including  myself.  We  all  wore  men's  suits.  You 
ought  to  have  seen  us.  One  day  I  was  working  at  the  stove 
when  two  men  came  to  the  entrance  of  the  tent.  One  man 
said,  '  Mister,  can  you  give  me  a  drink  of  water? '  I  said, 
'  Yes,  sir,'  and  handed  him  a  dipper  of  water.  While  I  was 
getting  the  water  the  other  man  made  a  remark  to  him  not 
audible  to  me.  When  he  took  the  water  he  seemed  so  dis- 
concerted that  I  could  not  refrain  from  laughing,  and  he 
said,  '  Excuse  me.  Madam,  I  thought  you  were  a  man.'  I 
wore  a  man's  mackinaw  suit  and  cap.  We  had  a  lot  of  fun. 
They  all  told  me  that  I  looked  fine  in  my  man's  suit.  I 
felt  like  a  fish  out  of  water  when  I  first  put  it  on,  but  soon  I 
grew  accustomed  to  it  and  I  liked  it  better  than  our  regular 
costume.  It  seemed  so  funny  when  I  went  down  hill  or 
through  wet  places,  I  would  instinctively  reach  around  to 
hold  up  my  skirts.     Then  how  they  laughed. 

"  I  got  along  very  nicely,  and  was  all  the  time  very  busy, 
and  industry,  you  know,  always  begets  happiness.  So  I 
was  both  busy  and  happy.  One  day  I  lined  the  horse 
blankets,  and  every  day  and  every  hour  and  every  minute 
there  was  a  plenty  to  do,  and  how  the  time  flew ! 

"  When  we  started  to  move  through  the  canon  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  walk,  and  did  for  a  short  distance,  but  my 
husband  insisted  on  my  riding,  so  they  fixed  a  place  for  me 
on  top  of  several  bales  of  hay  on  the  sled  my  son  was  draw- 
ing. I  did  not  want  to  ride  on  his  sled  as  he  was  always 
21 


348  INCIDENTS   AND   ACCIDENTS 

letting'  it  tij^  over,  but  my  liusband  said  he  would  be  more 
careful  if  he  had  me  for  a  passenger.  We  had  two  other 
sleds  heavily  loaded,  and  my  husband  had  to  stay  behind  and 
watch  to  keep  them  from  capsizing.  We  had  proceeded 
about  four  miles  when  over  went  the  sled,  but  I  jumped  off 
in  time,  and  was  not  even  frightened.  Afterward  several 
bales  more  of  hay  were  added  to  the  load,  and  we  started  off 
with  myself  perched  on  top.  Presently  over  it  went.  My 
son  was  admiring  the  grand  mountain  scenery  at  the  mo- 
ment and  paying  little  attention  to  his  sled.  I  uttered  a 
scream  and  tumbled  over  backward,  turning  a  complete 
somersault.  I  was  so  frightened  that  I  had  a  terrible  head- 
ache the  rest  of  the  day. 

'"  We  worked  along  and  finally  pitched  our  tent  at  Camp 
Pleasant,  with  tall  cliffs  on  either  side  of  us  lifting  their 
awful  forms  skyward  until  they  reached  the  very  clouds. 
The  awful,  solemn  grandeur  of  that  mighty  mountain  fast- 
ness beggars  description.  The  trail  to  the  summit  led  up 
the  eaiion  directly  in  front  of  our  tent.  The  snow  had  be- 
come so  soft  that  w^e  could  not  use  the  horses  beyond  this 
point,  and  we  had  to  haul  our  goods  by  hand.  We  had  five 
men  helping  us.  Until  then  the  horses  had  been  of  great 
assistance.  There  were  tents  in  every  direction  about  us 
and  no  conventionality.  Anybody  was. as  good  as  anybody 
else.     Everybody  spoke  to  everybody  and  got  acquainted. 

"  At  last  we  got  over  that  terrible  summit,  but  it  was 
not  half  so  bad  as  I  expected  to  find  it.  It  took  me  about  an 
hour  to  climb  to  the  top.  I  had  two  staffs  to  assist  me  in 
climbing.  The  day  was  so  beautiful  and  the  scenery  so 
sublimely  grand  that  I  really  enjoyed  the  adventure  much. 
The  weather  was  good  all  the  time,  in  fact.  Then  we  went 
into  camp  to  build  our  boat.     I  was  so  glad  to  take  up  my 


IN  A  CHRONIC   STATE   OF  HUNGER  349 

abode  at  one  place,  if  only  for  a  little  while.  This  thing  of 
packing-  up  and  lueving  every  few  days  was  something  ter- 
rible. 1  was  sick  for  nearly  two  weeks,  but  managed  to  do 
the  cooking  for  the  men. 

"  Cook?  I  had  to  cook  all  the  time.  I  never  saw  men 
eat  so.  They  would  come  in  wet  through  and  as  hungry  as 
bears.  They  would  want  something  to  eat  every  time  they 
came  into  the  tent.  The  night  we  camped  I  promised  the 
boys  some  pancakes  for  supper,  and  they  ate  so  many  it  kept 
me  frying  for  a  long  time.  I  made  some  syrup  of  sugar.  I 
don't  make  them  often.  I  cooked  some  evaporated  onions, 
and  they  were  very  nice.  We  had  very  good  soup  also.  I 
made  it  from  beef  extract  and  put  in  some  evaporated  vege- 
tables and  a  little  bread. 

''  The  day  we  came  over  from  Lindeman,  I  walked  from 
the  mouth  of  the  caiion.  They  call  it  nine  miles.  My!  I 
Avas  tired,  and  I  was  very  lame  for  several  days.  It  was  the 
first  time  I  had  walked  so  far.  They  always  insisted  on  my 
riding;  but  we  had  sold  the  horses  and  I  had  to  walk.  I  did 
not  want  to  sell  the  horses  to  the  man  who  bought  them. 
This  man  had  worked  one  span  of  horses  to  death.  I  told 
him  he  could  not  have  our  poor  horses  to  kill  by  overwork. 
He  just  laughed.  While  he  was  at  the  tent  he  heard  me 
say  I  wished  that  we  had  some  tomatoes,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  I  had  talked  so  harshly  to  him,  he  sent  me 
two  cans. 

"  Oh !  yes,  those  turbulent  waters  terrified  and  appalled 
me.  I  rode  through  all  those  awful  torrents  that  the  men 
did,  and  we  went  through  all  the  rapids  excepting  White 
ITorse.  Everybody  made  a  portage  there.  My  husband 
said  these  rapids  were  much  worse  than  last  year,  and  he 
deemed  it  unsafe  to  go  through.     The  day  we  crossed  Lake 


350  PERILS   OF  THE   CANON 

Bennett  the  wind  h\c\v  very  liard,  and  the  hike  was  exceed- 
ingly rough.  How  the  ^n-eat  waves  roL-ed  and  tossed  our 
boat  about  like  a  feather,  Though  it  contained  six  tons  of 
freight  besides  ourselves !  You  can  imagine  bow  terrified  I 
was.  From  Lake  Bennett  we  entered  Three  Mile  Kiver. 
We  had  no  sooner  entered  it  than  our  boat  got  stuck  on  a 
sand  bar.  The  men  had  to  get  into  the  cold,  icy  water, 
waist  deep,  to  get  the  boat  oif.  We  got  stuck  on  sand  bars 
several  times  after  that.  One  time  we  were  delayed  for 
three  hours. 

"  Lake  Lebarge  was  terribly  rough,  and  we  '  were  ex- 
ceeding tossed  with  a  tempest '  for  fifteen  long  miles.  I 
cried  nearly  all  the  way.  Finally  we  reached  the  canon  — 
that  terrible,  awful,  appalling  cafion,  a  roaring,  seething 
mass  of  water  rushing  from  both  sides  and  forming  a  cone 
in  the  center.  Nearly  every  one  landed  above  it  and  looked 
it  over,  but  we  went  right  through.  We  got  about  half  way 
through  when  a  big  swell  struck  the  boat,  causing  the  right 
oarsman  to  fall  just  as  my  husband  called  for  a  stroke  on 
that  side.  The  result  was  that  the  boat  struck  the  rocks, 
turned  around,  and  went  backward.  In  trying  to  turn  the 
boat  my  husband's  oar  broke  like  a  pipe  stem,  and  they  had 
to  jerk  one  of  the  oars  out  and  give  it  to  him.  When  the 
boat  swung  around  I  surely  thought  my  time  had  come.  I 
did  not  scream  nor  utter  an  audible  sound.  They  say  I 
clasped  my  hands  together  and  did  bravely.  For  the  mo- 
ment I  was  overcome  Avith  terror  and  palsied  with  fright.  I 
hope  I  may  never  experience  such  feelings  of  horror  again. 
I  felt  as  if  I  were  in  the  presence  of  death,  and  my  thoughts 
traveled  fast.  There  were  dozens  of  people  up  on  the  cliff 
looking  down  on  us,  but  no  one  could  have  saved  us  had  the 
boat  swamped.     We  were  just  three  minutes  going  through. 


'•HERE   FOR  THE   DUST"  351 

The  distance  is  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  It  seemed  an  age 
to  me.  One  corner  of  the  boat  struck  against  the  wall  of 
rock  and  was  smashed  in.  The  boat  was  soon  repaired  and 
we  proceeded  on  our  journey. 

"  The  next  bad  place  was  Five-Finger  Rapids.  We 
went  through  to  the  right,  through  a  passage  among  the 
rocks,  not  much  wider  than  our  boat.  This  is  another  roar- 
ing, seething  torrent  of  water.  I  w^^s  again  terribly  fright- 
ened. Just  below  Five  Fingers  is  the  Rink  Rapids.  Here 
we  had  to  keep  to  the  right  shore,  a  wall  of  rock,  just  as  close 
as  we  could  to  avoid  the  great  boulders  over  which  the  water 
madly  plunges  in  a  white,  seething  foam.  The  men  had  to 
bend  to  the  oars,  and  they  had  all  they  could  do  to  keep  our 
craft  off  the  rocks.  Oh,  how  the  water  roared!  Do  you 
wonder  that  I  was  frightened?  Thank  heaven,  it  is  all 
over!  I  would  not  take  the  trip  again  for  all  the  gold  in 
Alaska.  But  now  we're  here  I'm  going  to  make  some  gold 
dust,  if  I  have  to  run  a  bakery." 

Two  things  strongly  impressed  the  observer  of  those 
who  flocked  in  during  the  summer  rush.  First  the  sudden- 
ness with  which  the  decisions  to  seek  fortunes  in  the  gold 
fields  had  been  made.  Hardly  a  man  had  decided  to  come 
a  week  before  he  started,  and  a  number  decided,  made  their 
preparations,  and  left  all,  inside  of  twenty-four  hours,  to 
come  to  a  country  where  a  man  must  carry  with  him  what 
he  wants  for  a  year.  Second,  the  exceedingly  small  num- 
ber of  miners  there  were  among  them.  There  were  a  few, 
but  they  could  be  counted  on  the  fingers,  and  the  rest  of 
them  had  never  even  seen  a  gold  pan,  much  less  wielded 
a  pick  in  the  diggings.  It  was  a  green  crowd,  but  then,  in 
the  Klondike,  the  tenderfoot  flourishesand  often  makes  the 
strike  the  practical  miner  misses.     All,  to  a  man,  were  hope- 


353  CONFRONTED   BY   DIFFICULTIES 

fill,  and  not.  one  seemed  to  regret  tlie  step,  tliongh  as  the 
sitnation  gradnally  dawned  upon  them,*tlieir  pensive  faces 
beean  to  tell  of  the  subduino;  character  of  their  thonchts. 

O  ?V  O 

Many  were  unfit  for  the  work  of  mining  as  it  has  been 
conducted  in  Alaska,  and  a  still  larger  number  had  no  idea 
of  what  was  required. 

The  tenderfoot  found  himself  in  a  city  of  log  houses 
and  tents,  facing  a  situation  something  like  this :  He  could 
live  at  a  tavern  for  about  twelve  dollars  per  day  or  build 
himself  a  log  house.  As,  perhaps,  he  never  drove  a  nail  in 
his  life,  he  had  to  hire  carpenters  at  fifteen  dollars  a  day, 
and,  as  they  were  not  in  the  country  for  their  health,  they 
made  a  long  job  of  it  unless  others  are  waiting.  Finally, 
with  pockets  sadly  depleted,  he  moved  in. 

When  this  innocent  gold-hunter  looked  about  him  he 
found  that  the  only  way  to  get  a  claim  on  the  Ivlondike  was 
to  buy  it,  and  by  that  time  the  cheapest  one  cost  perhaps 
fifty  thousand  dollars.  He  might  have  five  hundred  dol- 
lars left,  perhaps  but  one  hundred  dollars,  possibly  little  or 
nothing.  The  plentiful  gold  he  had  been  hearing  about, 
if  above  ground  at  all,  belonged  to  some  one  else  and  was 
guarded.  If  he  wanted  nuggets  he  must  find  them  for  him- 
self. Where?  The  old  settler  would  point  vaguely  to  the 
frozen  hills  and  say : 

"  Go  along  and  find  a  creek.  Everything  is  taken  up 
for  fifty  miles  around,  but  you  may  get  something  further 
away.  '  What  shall  j-^ou  do  when  you  f^nd  it? '  First,  pay 
the  government  location  tax.  Then  just  move  a  hundred 
tons  of  ice  to  one  side.  Below  that  you  will  find  some- 
thing like  twenty  feet  of  frozen  mud.  Just  thaw  it  and  toss 
it  out.  Xear  bed-rock  you  will  see  gravel.  Perhaps  there 
will  be  gold  in  it,  and  perhaps  not.     That's  a  chance  you 


SOME   OF   THE   FROZEN  FACTS  353 

take.  Just  pile  the  gravel  up  and  in  the  spring  you  can 
wash  it  out.  You  can't  do  so  before,  because  all  the  water 
will  be  ice.  '  What  if  there  is  no  gold  in  it,  or  not  enough 
to  pay? '  Oh,  then  you  won't  be  any  worse  off  than  hun- 
dreds of  others.  You  can  hire  out  to  other  people,  perhaps, 
and  work  around  till  another  freeze  comes,  which  won't  be 
very  long.  What's  that?  You  say  your  provisions  won't 
outlast  another  winter?  Why,  man!  why  didn't  you  bring 
more,  then?  Did  you  take  this  for  a  picnic?  These  are 
the  frozen  facts,  young  man,  about  gold-hunting  here.  If 
they  are  not  sufficiently  frozen,  you  will  be  if  you  disregard 
them  when  the  mercury  gets  well  on  the  downward  path  to 
sixty  degrees  below." 

It  is  easy  to  see  wdiat  a  deplorable  condition  a  man  is  in 
when  he  faces  the  necessity  of  work  like  this  with  an  in- 
sufficient supply  of  provisions.  A  mine-owner,  no  matter 
how  rich  he  may  be  in  gold,  has  no  food  except  such  as  he 
has  laid  aside  for  himself,  if  he  has  had  the  foresight  or  the 
fortune  to  do  so,  and  only  those  men  can  be  of  use  to  him 
wdio  have  the  provisions.  To  endure  work  of  this  kind  suc- 
cessfully, one  needs  plenty  of  substantial  food. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  MONEY-MAKING  IN  ALASKA  — 
THE  COSTLY  EXPERIENCE  OF  TWO  TENDERFEET  — 
APPALLING  PRICE  OF  A  SUPPER  — A  HORSE  MISSING 
WITH  $49,000  IN  GOLD. 

A  City  Laid  out  on  a  Bog  —  Natural  Floral  Displays  —  Lousetown  — 
A  Cold  Place  in  Winter  —  Fabulous  Rise  in  the  Price  of  Building 
Lots  —  Expense  of  Log  Cabins  —  Making  jNIoney  Quickly  —  Expe- 
rience of  a  Cigar  Drummer  —  Clearing  820,000  in  Twenty  Days  in 
Real  Estate  Options  —  Better  than  Mining  —  Spring  Water  at  Twen- 
ty-five cents  a  Pail  —  Money  Brought  in  by  New  Comers  —  Bonanza 
Kings  and  Millionaires  —  Alec  McDonald  and  His  Investments  — 
"Satin  Bags,"  the  Italian  Bonanza  King  —  Indulging  in  a  Square 
Meal  at  a  Dawson  Restaurant  —  "  Your  Bill  is  $53  "  — How  it  was 
Itemized  —  Pack  Horses  with  Gold  Dust  —  One  of  the  Horses 
Missing  —  An  Exciting  Mystery  —  A  Vision  of  Highway  Robbers  — 
The  Lost  Horse  Returns  Safely — Just  Stopped  to  Graze — Found 
Dead  with  |30,000  — The  Strain  of  Too  Hard  Work. 

DAAVSOX  is  laid  out  with  the  most  approved  mathe- 
matical precision  on  a  bog.  It  is  rectangular  in 
shape,  the  streets  are  sixty-five  feet  wide,  and,  in 
summer,  about  a  foot  deep  in  mud.  At  the  bottom  is  the 
everlasting  frost,  hard  as  adamant.  As  people  who  have 
become  accustomed  to  the  countrv  are  used  to  wading,  little 
thought  is  given  to  this  inconvenience,  and  the  summer  sea- 
son, if  unpleasant  underfoot,  has  some  delights,  at  least, 
overhead  and  about  the  hills.  The  flowers  carpet  the  hill- 
sides, run  riot  in  the  valleys,  and  everwhere  clothe  the 
countrv  in  glowing  beauty.     The  soft  purple  haze  as  seen 

( 354 ) 


DAWSON  AND   ITS   SUBURBS  355 

from  Dawson  on  the  neighboring  hills  seems  almost  like  a 
mist,  but  it  is  only  an  embankment  of  wild  heliotrope. 
Wild  roses,  beautiful  and  fragrant,  wild  poppies,  and  scores 
of  delicate  small  blossoms  vary  the  color.  In  winter  the 
streets  are  more  agreeable  in  their  mantle  of  snow,  which 
covers  everything.  But  the  hills  are  dreary  then,  very 
dreary. 

Dawson  is  situated  on  the  northeast  side  of  the  Yukon, 
forty  miles  in  a  direct  line  from  the  Alaska  boundary,  and 
twice  that  distance  from  Avliere  the  river  crosses  the  line. 
The  Klondike  lliver  comes  down  on  the  east  side  and  cuts 
the  town  site  in  two.  That  portion  of  the  town  on  the 
south  side  of  where  the  Klondike  joins  the  Yukon  is  called 
''  Lousetow^n,"  and,  in  fact,  was  the  original  site  used  in 
years  past  as  an  available  camping  point,  and  occasionally 
roving  bands  of  Indians  stopped  there.  At  present,  a  store 
and  two  or  three  saloons  comprise  the  business  portion  of 
the  place.  Some  forty  or  fifty  tents  house  two  hundred  or 
three  hundred  people,  and  the  mountain  trail  to  the  mines 
leads  past  this  place.  The  ground  is  much  higher  and  dryer 
than  on  the  north  side,  but  owing  to  the  proximity  of  the 
mountain  the  site  is  not  large  enough  for  much  of  a  town. 

On  the  north  side  of  Dawson  proper  the  mountains  open 
out  and  curve  around  a  low  marshy  piece  of  land  of  about 
one  hundred  acres.  There  is  hardly  a  spot  on  the  town  site 
where  the  moss  and  earth  cannot  be  cleared  away  to  a  depth 
of  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  and  a  cake  of  frozen  ground  or  ice 
be  found.  There  would  seem  to  be  no  question  as  to  the 
locality  being  unhealthy  and  sid)ject  to  malarial  ailments. 
In  other  than  warm  months  a  strong  wind  usually  blows  up 
the  Yukon  from  the  north,  except  Avhen  the  weather  is 
colder  than  fifty  degrees  below  zero,  and  then  a  dead  calm 


356  MONOPOLY   OF   THE   WATER  SUPPLY 

usually  ])i'cvails.  Dawson  is  situated  on  a  bend  of  the  river 
so  as  to  receive  the  full  benefit  of  the  chilling  blasts.  Back 
on  the  gulches  where  the  mines  are  located,  the  weather  is 
considerably  more  moderate  and  there  is  less  wind.  The 
Yukon  in  front  of  Dawson  is  one-third  of  a  mile  wide  and 
the  addition  of  the  Klondike  waters  forms  a  large  eddy 
directly  in  front  of  the  town,  and  into  it  the  drainage  and 
sewage  of  the  city  empties.  Consequently,  the  water  is  im- 
pregnated with  foreign  elements  and  has  occasioned  much 
sickness  to  those  using  it.  At  the  lower  end  of  the  town 
near  the  foot  of  the  mountain  is  a  fine  spring  of  good  water 
which  an  enterprising  man  has  monopolized,  and  water- 
carriers  earn  as  high  as  forty  dollars  a  day  in  carrying  water. 
A  charge  of  twenty-five  cents  a  bucket  is  generally  exacted. 

As  the  demand  for  building  lots  grew  and  the  evidences 
of  the  unsanitary  condition  of  the  soil  became  more  appa- 
rent, people  began  to  pitch  their  tents  and  to  build  cabins 
on  the  hillside.  Such  locations  are  some  distance  away 
from  the  business  center,  but  none  too  far  for  such  as  desire 
to  live  quietly.  The  view  from  these  hill  residences,  over- 
looking Dawson  and  the  river,  is  fine  and  in  time  it  will  be- 
come, doubtless,  a  coveted  residential  quarter. 

September  1,  1896,  Dawson  City  consisted  of  two  log 
cabins,  one  small  warehouse,  a  sawmill,  and  a  few  tents,  mtli 
a  population  of  about  twenty-five  men  and  one  woman. 
Joe  Ladue,  the  founder,  was  then  selling  his  best  lots  at  from 
five  dollars  to  twenty  dollars  each,  and  the  prices  were  con- 
sidered none  too  low.  These  same  lots  in  July,  1897,  were 
selling  at  from  eight  hundred  dollars  to  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars each,  and  with  every  prospect  of  going  still  higher. 

In  July,  Dawson's  population  had  growm  to  five  thousand, 
and  every  day  people  were  pouring  in.     Log  cabins,  sixteen 


A   BORN   BUSINESS   MAN  357 

by  eighteen  feet,  were  renting  from  forty  dollars  to  seventy- 
five  dollars  per  month,  and  few  were  to  be  had  at  these 
prices.  On  every  hand  cabins  and  tents  were  being  set  up. 
It  cost  a  small  fortune  to  build  cabins  at  Dawson,  One  of 
average  size  costs  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  thousand  dol- 
lars. Building  timber  is  scarce  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
town,  logs  l)eing  brought  down  the  Yukon  from  ten  to 
fifteen  miles. 

Never  before,  I  believe,  was  there  such  a  place  to  make 
money  quickly  as  in  Dawson  in  1897;  those  who  took  for- 
tune at  its  tide  saw  the  money  fairly  roll  up  in  their  hands. 
Naturally,  there  were  the  usual  number  who  seemed  to  fail 
to  seize  the  right  opportunity,  and  so  worked  along  making 
but  little.  But  the  opportunities  were  there  for  those  who 
had  the  business  shrewdness  to  see  them.  A  single  example 
will  illustrate.  Early  in  the  spring  a  cigar  agent  or  drum- 
mer from  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  found  himself  at  Dyea  when  the 
first  news  of  the  Klondike  came  over  the  passes.  He  quit 
his  job,  sent  word  to  his  firm  that  he  was  going  to  the  Klon- 
dike, took  what  cigars  he  had,  and  set  out;  arrived  before 
the  great  influx  began,  and  quickly  sold  his  ten-cent  cigars 
for  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  each.  He  was  only  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  but  a  born  business  man ;  he  was  all  busi- 
ness. He  paid  no  attention  to  the  mines ;  indeed,  he  said  he 
didn't  care  whether  he  ever  saw  one  or  not.  There  was 
money  to  be  made  easier  right  in  Dawson.  The  speculation 
in  town  lots  was  daily  becoming  livelier,  and  he  knew  that 
it  would  be  livelier  still  when  the  people  began  to  arrive,  so 
he  took  written  sixty-day  options  on  a  dozen  lots,  paid  five 
hundred  dollars  down,  and  in  less  than  twenty  days  sold  out 
and  made  twenty  thousand  dollars  cash. 

"  That's  better  than  thawing  out  frozen  muck  for  gold," 


358  ENTERPRISE  AND   FORESIGHT 

he  said.  "  These  mines  in  Dawson  can  be  worked  winter 
and  summer." 

Then  he  took  options  on  more  lots  at  greatly  advanced 
prices,  for  by  that  time  we  had  heard  at  Dawson  of  the  ex- 
citement in  the  States  over  the  new  discovery,  and  we  knew 
that  soon  an  army  of  gold-seekers  woidd  be  pouring  in. 
When  the  people  came,  he  made  several  thousands  more. 
But  his  business  activity  was  by  no  means  confined  to  this 
form  of  speculation.  Observing  the  poor  quality  and  taste 
of  the  water  from  the  Yukon,  he  preempted  the  springs 
back  on  the  hill  for  a  comparatively  small  sum,  and  soon 
had  a  lot  of  Indians  peddling  this  at  twenty-five  cents  a  pail. 
He  hired  a  few  women  and  went  into  the  bread  business. 

Money,  that  is,  gold  dust,  was  flying  about  in  all  direc- 
tions, and  he  just  put  his  business  instincts  to  work  to  catch 
what  he  could  of  it.  By  the  end  of  the  year  he  had  two 
hundred  pounds  of  gold  ready  for  shipment  to  the  States 
when  the  river  opened,  and  altogether  he  was  probably 
w^orth  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  all  made  in  six  months 
without  going  near  a  gold  mine.  He  had  every  prospect  of 
doubling  it  in  the  next  six  months,  for  in  the  summer  season 
there  will  be  no  limit  to  the  demand  for  his  spring  water  at 
twenty-five  cents  a  pail.  He  had  a  fund  of  Irish  wit  and 
was  very  popular.  The  last  I  heard  he  Avas  proposing  to 
open  a  bank,  and  the  chances  were  that  he  would  in  tw^o 
years  have  more  gold  than  two-thirds  of  those  toiling  in  the 
rich  pockets  far  away  on  the  creeks. 

Enterprising  men  who  started  business  ventures  of  this 
kind  naturally  stood  in  the  way  to  secure  not  simply  some  of 
the  gold  that  came  out  of  the  mines,  but  much  of  the  money 
which  was  brought  in  by  newcomers.  The  latter  fund  was 
greater  than  one  might  suppose.     Wliile  some  came  in  with 


SOME   BONANZA   KINGS  359 

little  money,  the  majority  had  realized  the  advantages  of 
bringing  all  they  could,  and  it  seems  safe  to  say  that  at  least 
two  millions  were  brought  in  during  1897.  Much  of  this 
went  for  town  lots  and  cabins.  Those  who  brought  in  large 
supplies  of  provisions  were  tempted  by  the  fancy  prices  they 
commanded  to  sell  out  all  they  could  afford  to,  sometimes 
making  enough  to  enable  them  to  secure  valuable  claims  or 
interests. 

Naturally,  the  wonderful  riches  developed  in  the 
spring's  clean-up  resulted  in  a  sudden  creation  of  bonanza 
kings  and  millionaires  who  threw  their  dust  around  with 
lavish  hands.  Alex.  McDonald  was  conceded  to  be  the 
richest,  at  least  in  claims.  Before  the  summer  was  over  he 
owmed  interests  in  twenty-eight  claims,  and  he  kept  buying 
as  fast  as  he  could  take  the  money  out  of  the  ground  to  pa}' 
for  them ;  indeed,  faster. 

"  I  have  invested  my  whole  fortune,"  he  said,  "  and 
have  run  in  debt  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
besides,  but  I  can  dig  out  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  any  time  I  need  it." 

From  his  general  appearance  and  demeanor  one  would 
not  suppose  that  he  had  owned  mines  which  had  made  him 
rich  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice,  and  all  in  a  single  year. 
He  is  a  quiet,  unassuming  man,  and  takes  his  good  fortune 
philosophically.  He  walks  about  in  his  rough  miner's 
clothes,  and  is  cordial,  in  his  way,  to  everybody,  for  no  one 
is  better  than  anybody  else  in  Dawson.  Lippy  and  Berry 
were  reckoned  as  second  and  third  in  riches,  but  when 
strikes  were  being  made  every  day  there  was  always  an  un- 
certainty as  to  who  could  really  count  up  the  most  wealth. 
An  Italian  named  Antonia,  owning  some  claims  on  El- 
dorado, gave  many  evidences  of  being  one  of  the  most  con- 


360  AN  EXPENSIVE   SUPPER 

spicuoiis  bonanza  kings.  It  was  said  that  lie  had  given  a 
written  agreement  to  pay  his  housekeeper  five  hundred  dol- 
lars a  week,  and  he  actually  ''  cleaned  the  town  "  out  of  silks 
and  satins,  so  that  he  obtained  the  local  soubriquet  of  '"  Satin 
Bags."  But  he  could  evidently  afford  to  indulge  his  tastes, 
for  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  dig  up  the  gold  when  he  wanted  it. 

Tastes  were,  however,  a  very  expensive  thing  to  in- 
dulge in  Dawson,  and  some  of  the  newcomers  were  sIoav 
in  appreciating  it.  The  little  experience  of  two  young  men 
from  the  Pacific  coast  will  illustrate  the  difficulty  which 
some  had  in  accommodating  themselves  at  once  to  the  con- 
dition of  affairs.  They  arrived  one  evening  after  a  rather 
quick  and  fortunate  voyage  down  the  river.  Congratu- 
lating themselves  on  their  good  luck  and  having  tired  of 
camp  cooking,  one  proposed  going  to  the  restaurant  and 
having  a  good  supper.  The  proposition  was  accepted,  and, 
entering  the  first  restaurant  which  had  white  tablecloths 
and  napkins,  they  ordered  a  full  course  and  a  small  bottle 
of  wine.  The  menu  consisted  of  eastern  oysters,  roast  duck, 
moose  steaks,  and  the  usual  assortment  of  side  dishes. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  that  they  greatly  enjoyed  the  sup- 
per, particularly  after  having  lived  on  bacon,  flapjacks,  and 
black  coffee  for  a  month.  Arising  and  going  to  the  coun- 
ter, one  of  them  threw  do^^Ti  a  twenty-dollar  gold  piece,  and 
taking  a  toothpick,  said : 

"  Take  out  for  two." 

"  You'll  have  to  come  again,"  said  the  proprietor. 

"Oh,  isn't  that  enough;  well,  here's  another  twenty; 
you  will  have  to  excuse  me,  as  we've  just  arrived  and  are 
not  yet  familiar  with  frontier  prices." 

"  That's  not  enough  yet,  my  friend.  Your  bill  is  fifty- 
two  dollars." 


3      ll. 


THE   MENU  363 

"  AV-li-a-t,  you  don't  mean  to  say  you're  going  to  charge 
us  f-i-f-t-y-t-w-o  d-o-l-l-a-r-s  for  our  supper^  Why,  in  Ta- 
coma  it  woukhi't  cost  over  seven  or  eight  dollars." 

"Yes,  but  you're  not  in  Tacoma,  and  besides,  fifty-two 
dollars  is  what  it'd  cost  you  in  any  other  restaurant  in  Daw- 
son." 

"  Will  you  please  make  out  a  statement  of  the  expense?" 
meekly  asked  the  young  gold-hunter,  as  he  and  his  partner 
emptied  their  purses  and  between  them  could  only  pro- 
duce forty-eight  dollars  and  sixty-five  cents.  The  restau- 
rant-keeper made  out  a  slip,  which  read : 

1  can  Eastern  oysters  for  two, $15.00 

1  roast  duck  for  two,         ........  4.00 

3  porterhouse  moose  steaks, 3.00 

1  pint  bottle  of  champagne, 30.00 

Total, 152.00 

Observing  the  depressed  condition  of  their  finances,  and 
tenderly  appreciating  their  embarrassed  condition  in  the 
presence  of  a  dozen  miners  who  were  amused  at  the  predica- 
ment of  the  newcomers,  the  restaurant-keeper  said : 

"  Oh,  never  mind,  boys,  that's  near  enough.  Here, 
keep  this  odd  change;  we've  no  use  for  it  up  here,"  and  he 
handed  them  back  one  dollar  and  fifteen  cents  in  dimes  and 
nickels. 

The  next  morning  they  were  observed  in  their  tent  as 
they  were  getting  ready  for  breakfast.  The  meal  consisted 
of  fried  bacon,  beans,  pancakes,  and  coffee.  Their  coun- 
tenances bore  a  serious  expression,  and  after  a  few  pre- 
liminary remarks  incidental  to  the  character  of  the  country 
and  chilly  condition  of  the  weather,  a  visitor  remarked  that 
most  of  the  new  arrivals  preferred  to  board  a  few  days  at  the 
restaurants  after  having  been  subjected  to  a  bacon  and  black 
coffee  diet  for  a  month. 


3()4  A  VALUABLE   HORSE  MISSING 

'*  It's  different  witli  iis,"  said  one,  with  a  sickly  attempt 
to  smile  and  a  sly  glance  at  bis  conn-ade.  "  AVe  took  sup- 
per at  a  restaurant  last  night  and  the  bill  was  over  fifty  dol- 
lars, and  it  broke  the  two  of  us  to  pay  it." 

The  sight  of  gold  dust  had  become  an  old  story  to  the 
people  w^ho  had  wintered  at  Dawson,  but  it  w^as  a  revelation 
which  nearly  drove  the  new-comers  frantic  with  impatience 
to  acquire  some  of  their  own.  jSTearly  every  day  a  little 
traiii  of  pack  horses  would  come  in  from  the  mines  having 
on  their  backs  those  precious  bags  w^hich  were  more  of  a 
load  than  they  seemed. 

One  day  in  the  early  part  of  September  a  party  with 
seven  pack  lioi^es  loaded  with  gold  came  into  town  from  El- 
dorado. The  gold  was  in  sacks  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
to  two  hundred  pounds,  and,  of  course,  the  arrival  was  one 
of  the  events  of  the  day  in  a  far-away  shut-off  town  where 
everything  of  that  character  is  an  object  of  interest.  When 
the  party  brought  in  their  horses  ready  to  have  the  gold 
Aveighed,  the  leaders  of  the  train  were  struck  with  surprise 
and  consternation. 

One  of  the  horses  was  missing ! 

They  had  started  with  eight,  and  upon  investigation 
they  found  that  one  loaded  with  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds  of  gold,  valued  at  about  forty-nine  thousand  dollars, 
was  not  with  the  othere.  It  was  a  mystery  which  no  one 
could  explain.  ]^o  one  had  seen  the  animal  when  it  dropped 
out.  They  had  worked  their  way  over  the  rough  trail,  and 
supposed  that  the  horses  were  keeping  in  line  all  the  way. 
The  minutes  of  consternation  grew  into  hours,  and  then  into 
days. 

Xo  time  was  lost  in  getting  back  over  the  trail,  making 
inquiries  all  along  the  route  if  a  stray  horse  with  one  hun- 


RETURN  OF   THE  WANDERER  365 

(Ired  and  ciglitj  pounds  of  gold  on  his  back  had  been  seen. 
The  hunt  lasted  all  night,  and  the  next  day,  and  the  night 
following,  and  no  trace  of  the  animal  could  be  found. 

The  matter  ceased  to  be  humorous  and  assumed  a  serious 
aspect.  A  vision  of  highway  robbers  began  to  haunt  the 
honest  miners  Avho  were  sending  in  their  gold.  The  police 
were  called  into  requisition,  but  not  the  faintest  clue  could 
they  get  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  either  the  animal  or  the 
gold,  though  the  most  diligent  search  was  made  in  all  direc- 
tions. 

The  news  spread  from  camp  to  camp,  and  the  miners 
began  to  be  of  the  opinion  that  a  bold  highway  robbery  had 
been  committed  somehow.  The  searchers  were  puzzled  be- 
cause the  animal  wore  a  clear-toned  bell  which  could  be 
heard  for  some  distance,  and,  though  they  strained  their 
ears  to  catch  the  faintest  suggestion  of  the  tinkling  of  that 
bell  through  the  wild  country  of  that  trail,  not  a  tinkle  could 
they  hear.  Horse,  bell,  and  forty-nine  thousand  dollars  of 
gold  belonging  to  the  Berry  brothers  seemed  to  have 
dropped  completely  out  of  existence. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  second  day,  when  the  affair  was 
assuming  an  alarming  aspect,  the  lost  horse  came  jogging 
along  over  the  top  of  the  mountain  and  down  into  town, 
jingling  the  bell  as  though  nothing  had  happened,  and  with 
the  sack  of  gold  still  securely  strapped  on  his  back ! 

The  horse  had  strayed  from  the  train  during  the  dark- 
ness and  had  wandered  off  into  a  meadow  to  graze.  This 
he  had  done  while  carrying  about  his  precious  burden,  and 
when  content  he  had  slowly  made  his  way  towards  the 
town. 

The  prevailing  ideas  as  to  distance  in  Alaska  and  the  dif- 
ficulties of  moving  small  distances  sometimes  are  vorv  in- 
22 


3G6  A  NEW  CITY 

adequate.  For  example,  some  seem  to  think  that  a  man  can 
step  out  of  a  dance  hall  or  saloon  and  in  a  few  moments  be 
on  his  claim ;  or  if  he  is  on  his  claim  and  wishes  to  drop  into 
a  store,  he  can  throw  down  his  pick  and  step  over.  But 
these  mines  extend  for  a  hundred  miles  around  Dawson  in 
a  region  almost  inaccessible  in  places.  It  costs  twenty-five 
cents  a  pound  to  have  things  packed  from  Dawson  up  to 
some  of  the  mines.  This  makes  a  sack  of  flour  that  cost 
twelve  dollars  at  Dawson  worth  nearer  thirty-five  dollars  at 
camps  up  the  stream. 

About  the  first  thing  the  new  arrivals  of  the  summer 
and  fall  did  was  to  start  for  "  the  gulch,"  a  term  which  was 
used  to  designate  the  diggings  on  Bonanza  and  Eldorado 
creeks  and  their  tributaries.  Whether  they  were  ex- 
perienced miners  or  not  they  generally  had  their  eyes 
opened  to  the  resources  of  the  creeks  and  to  the  curious 
mode  of  mining.  By  that  time  the  gulch  was  almost  a  city 
in  itself,  there  being  more  people  there  than  in  Dawson,  and 
the  center  of  the  population  and  the  meeting-place  was  at 
the  junction  of  Eldorado  and  Bonanza.  Here,  gradually, 
a  new  city,  with  all  its  accessories,  was  springing  up,  which 
threatened  to  rival  Dawson  itself.  It  was  the  center  of  in- 
dustrial activity,  and  it  tended  to  keep  the  miners  away 
from  Dawson.  The  miners  gave  it  the  name  of  Eldorado 
City. 

Both  Protestants  and  Catholics  early  established  mission 
churches  at  Dawson  and  did  good  work  under  the  greatest 
difiiculties.  Rev.  Y.  C.  Gambell  and  wife  started  the  first 
church,  the  Presbyterian  mission,  but  they  had  many  dis- 
couragements. They  rented  the  first  floor  of  a  log  cabin 
and  held  Sunday  services  there  which  were  fairly  well  at- 
tended, though  some  of  your  city  ministers  would  have 


SICKNESS  AND   DEATH  367 

winced  at  the  surroundings.  The  top  floor  of  the  building- 
was  used  as  a  lodging  house,  and  the  missionaries  had  hardly 
become  settled  when  a  drunken  lodger  upstairs  overturned 
a  candle  and  the  building  was  burned  to  the  ground. 
Nothing  was  saved,  and  tlie  outfits  of  ten  men  were  de- 
stroyed. Fire  from  a  similar  cause  broke  out  on  Thanks- 
giving evening  and  destroyed  the  opera  house  and  two 
saloons.  Only  the  snow  on  the  roofs  saved  the  rest  of  the 
buildings  on  the  street. 

The  sanitary  condition  of  the  place  was  better  than  could 
have  been  expected  from  its  situation.  Many  of  the  in- 
stances of  sickness  and  death  were  more  or  less  traceable  to 
carelessness,  neglect,  overwork,  and  excitement,  the  re- 
laxation of  the  mental  and  physical  strain  being  too  much 
for  some  to  endure.  Some  men  had  lived  on  barely  noth- 
ing, and  that  half-cooked.  The  excitement  of  washing  and 
accumulating  the  gold  was  so  great  that  many  men  devoted 
their  entire  time  to  it  when  they  should  have  devoted  some 
to  cooking,  cleanliness,  and  rest.  One  man,  after  he  had 
washed  out  thirty  thousand  dollars  of  gold,  began  to  have 
the  idea  that  he  was  going  to  be  robbed.  The  mental  strain 
was  too  great  for  him,  for  he  was  found  one  morning  dead 
in  his  tent  with  his  thirty  thousand  dollars  under  his  head. 

In  the  early  fall  symptoms  of  typhoid  began  to  manifest 
themselves  and  there  were  several  cases  in  the  hospital. 
There  had  been  a  continual  dread  of  this  disease  on  account 
of  the  filthy  condition  of  the  streets  of  the  town,  but  during 
the  summer  the  general  health  appeared  to  be  good.  It 
takes  a  little  time,  however,  for  the  germs  to  work  in  the 
system,  and  in  the  fall  months  those  who  had  become  en- 
feebled by  hardships  or  improper  food  began  to  show  the 
effects. 


3()8  THE   GROWTH   OF   DAWSON 

Two  brothers,  Robert  and  Charles  Carlson,  rich  owners 
of  claims  on  Bonanza  Creek,  succumbed  to  the  disease  jja 
July.  They  had  just  sold  their  claims  for  fifty  thousand 
dollars  and  were  preparing  to  leave  the  country  for  the  win- 
ter, when  they  were  stricken  down.  They  had  been  amono- 
the  fortunate  ones  who  arrived  early  when  Bonanza  was  dis- 
covered. They  worked  hard  during  the  winter  to  prepare 
for  the  spring  sluicing.  Success  attended  their  efforts,  but, 
weakened  by  them,  they  fell  an  easy  prey. 

Dawson  has  been  growing  right  along  during  the  past 
winter.  An  occasional  dip  of  the  mercury  to  forty-five 
degrees  or  fifty  degrees  below  zero  has  had  no  effect  on  the 
building  operations  there.  All  winter  long  Front  street  — 
practically  the  only  one  in  Dawson  —  has  resounded 
with  the  sound  of  chopping  and  hammering  on  new  houses 
and  stores.  Some  of  the  more  recent  building  improve- 
ments of  the  town  comprise  about  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
log  cabins,  three  log  churches  —  Catholic,  Episcopal,  and 
Methodist  —  and  six  hundred  tents,  that  had  been  boarded 
up  about  the  bottom  to  make  them  more  agreeable  to  the 
occupants.  The  business  part  of  the  town  consists  of  log 
and  rough  pine  board  buildings  arranged  in  a  straight  line 
and  close  beside  one  another.  In  these  structures  are  fifteen 
saloons,  two  barber  shops,  several  butcher  shops,  and  half  a 
dozen  restaurants,  two  real  estate  offices,  and  one  hardware 
store. 

The  largest  buildings  in  that  region  arc  two  substantial 
storehouses  built  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and 
the  iSTorth  American  Transportation  Company.  Each  is 
two  stories  high,  and  covers  about  eight  thousand  square 
feet.  To  show  how^  it  costs  to  build  up  there,  I  have  only 
to  say  that  one  of  these  storehouses,  with  a  good  concrete 


HIGH   PRICES  369 

foundation,  cost  exactly  ninety-three  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  in  September,  1897.  The  same  structure  could  be 
built  in  the  Middle  States  for  about  four  thousand  dollars, 
and  on  the  Pacific  coast  for  four  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. Log  cabins  twenty  by  twenty-four  feet  now  cost  from 
three  thousand  dollars  to  four  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. The  logs  are  hewn  on  three  sides  and  the  chinks  are 
plugged  with  mud  and  moss.  The  roofs  are  constructed  of 
three  layers  of  pine  boards,  upon  which  moss  and  earth  are 
packed  to  the  depth  of  a  foot. 

Some  of  the  recent  quotations  at  Dawson  will  give  a  fair 
idea  of  the  ratio  of  demand  to  supply :  Pine  logs,  two  dol- 
lars and  fifty  cents  and  three  dollars  each;  window  glass, 
fifty  cents  a  pound;  tenpenny  nails,  sixty  cents  a  pound; 
meat,  seventy-five  cents  a  pound.  Carpenters  who  can  do 
fairly  good  work  get  eighteen  to  twenty  dollars  a  day;  com- 
mon laborers  get  three-quarters  of  an  ounce  of  gold  a  day  — 
about  twelve  dollars. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

DAWSON  AND  ITS  INIQUITIES  — GAMBLING  PLACES, 
THEIR  DEVICES  AND  THEIR  WAYS  — NIGHT  SCENES 
IN  THE  DANCE  HALLS— REAL  LIFE  IN  NEW  MINING 
CAJVIPS. 

Saloons  and  Gambling  the  Natural  Products  of  New  Mining  Camps  — 
Strange  Sights  and  Sounds  —  Gold  Dust  as  Free  as  Water  —  Sa 
loons  and  Their  "Brace  Games"  —  Who  Pay  the  Fiddlers  —  Ex- 
pensive Society  —  "  Stud-Horse  Poker"  and  High  Stakes  —Meth- 
ods at  the  Faro  Table  —  Gold  Bags  in  Pigeon  Holes  —  Settling  Up  — 
"Shorty's"  Fatal  Forgetfulness  —  Few  Instances  of  Shooting 
Now — Ruling  Prices  in  Saloons  —  The  "Rake  Off"  —  When 
"Swiftwater  Bill"  Breaks  Loose  —  Losing  $7,500  in  an  Hour  — 
Appearance  of  Gambling  Places  —  The  Dance  Halls  and  the 
Women  —  Gallant  Partners  in  Spiked  Boots  —  An  Occasional  Free 
Fight  —  Tobacco-Laden  Atmosphere  —  Tired  and  Dishevelled 
Women  —  More  Orderly  than  Mining  Camps  in  the  Rockies  — 
Not  a  Hard,  Reckless,  Wide-Open  Town  —  Harvard,  Yale,  and 
Vassar  Graduates. 

IX  the  matter  of  iniqiuty,  siicli  as  prevails  in  musliroom 
towns  in  mining  districts,  Dawson  was  not  slow  in 
eclipsing  all  rivals  on  tlie  Yukon.'  Xever  before  had 
such  a  crowd  of  people  pounnl  into  the  Yukon  valley,  and  a 
rough  floating  element,  which  had  quicklv  pcrcei-^'ed  the 
possibilities  of  operation  in  a  place  over  which  evervbody  on 
the  Pacific  coast  was  going  wild,  were  soon  plying  their  oc- 
cupations in  the  city.  Still,  there  were  no  scenes  of  dis- 
order, or  what  are  reckoned  as  such  in  a  place  like  this. 
Saloons  and  gambling  were  the  natural  products  of  such 

(370) 


A      LIVELY   TOWN  371 

a  population  in  a  far  away  mining  camp,  and  no  mining 
camp  was  ever  so  far  away  as  these  on  the  Yukon.  Circle 
City  bad  emptied  itself,  and  so  had  Forty  Mile.  In  those 
once  thriving  places  the  saloons  were  deserted  and  the  dance 
halls  silent. 

Early  in  the  first  season,  or  soon  after  the  discovery, 
one  of  the  Circle  City  dance  hall  proprietors  had  come  up 
the  river,  got  together  enough  logs  for  the  sides  and  ends  of 
a  house,  put  a  tent  roof  over  it,  and  then  on  one  of  the  boats 
came  the  first  piano  in  Dawson  and  a  lot  of  girls.  A  dance 
house  was  in  immediate  operation.  Others  followed 
quickly,  and  in  the  summer  of  1897  it  was  the  liveliest  town 
imaginable,  a  city  of  many  strange  sights  and  sounds. 
With  the  sound  of  the  hammer  and  the  axe  mingled  the 
howling  of  the  dogs,  the  squeaking  of  the  violin,  the  jingling 
notes  of  the  piano,  and  the  harsh  voice  of  the  prompter  — 
*'  balance  all,"  "  ladies'  change,"  "  swing  yer  pards."  Dur- 
ing the  summer,  when  it  was  light  all  the  time,  tlic  public 
resorts  were  wide  open  every  hour  in  the  day.  The  saloons 
never  closed,  and  gambling  went  on  without  cessation. 

Many  queer  incidents  occurred,  showing  how  cheaply 
the  gold  dust  was  esteemed  by  some  of  the  miners.  One 
l)oy,  who  had  been  working  hard  all  day  on  his  claim,  said, 
when  he  had  finished : 

''  Now,  I'll  just  pan  out  one  pan  for  the  boys." 

As  a  result  he  came  to  town,  entered  one  of  the  saloons, 
treated  everybody  there  several  times,  lost  thirteen  dollars 
at  faro,  and  still  had  thirty  dollars  left. 

Every  saloon  was,  of  course,  provided  with  a  number  of 
gambling  devices,  and  it  was  perfectly  natural  to  suppose 
that  they  were  of  that  character  called  "  brace  games,"  that 
is,  so  arranged  as  to  make  it  extremely  difficult  for  an  out- 


372  THE  gambler's  harvest 

sider  to  win  a  dollar.  Even  faro  boxes  and  cases  worked 
double,  and  tlie  dealer  generally  knew  what  to  do  when  it 
was  necessary  to  make  a  certain  card  win.  He  who  sat 
down  to  a  promiscuous  poker  table  was  either  reckless  or 
ignorant.  Of  course,  these  things  were  intended  to  catch 
the  tenderfoot,  or  the  old  miner  who  had  come  in  from  a 
season  of  hardship  and  had  consoled  himself  with  about  the 
worst  stuff  that  ever  went  by  the  name  of  whisky.  The  pro- 
fessional gamblers  reaped  the  harvest,  and  the  tenderfeet 
and  the  hardworking  miners  paid  the  fiddlers.  But  gold 
was  cheap.  Miners  did  not  hesitate  a  minute  to  drop  it  for 
a  little  fun.     And  they  seldom  grumbled  at  the  cost. 

It  was  difficult  for  an  economical  man  to  get  around  "  in 
society  "  for  less  than  fifty  dollars  a  day.  I  heard  of  people 
who  spent  five  hundred  dollars  a  day  just  in  killing  time 
while  waiting  for  the  steamer  to  go  out  with  their  gold. 
The  games  were  exceedingly  stiff,  and  it  was  not  an  uncom- 
mon thing  to  see  a  miner  throw  down  his  sack  and  bet  from 
a  hundred  up  on  the  highest  card.  "  Stud-horse  poker  " 
was  the  popular  game,  and  it  would  often  cost  from  fifty 
dollars  up  to  draw  a  card. 

A  gambler,  winning  or  losing  from  five  hundred  dollars 
to  three  thousand  dollars  at  a  single  sitting,  was  not  worthy 
of  passing  comment.  In  fact,  games  involving  five  thou- 
sand dollars  or  ten  thousand  dollars  were  running  night  and 
day.  Professional  dealers  of  "  banking  games  "  received 
twenty  dollars  a  day. 

The  manner  of  hazarding  money  is  unique  even  in  a 
mining  camp.  The  player  takes  his  seat  at  a  faro  table, 
passes  over  his  sack  of  gold  dust  to  the  dealer,  who  drops  it 
into  a  small  pigeon-hole.  The  chance  of  "  overplaying  his 
sack  "  devolves  upon  the  player's  honor.     He  is  given  full 


A  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  GAMBLING  DEN       373 

credit  and  can  call  for  as  many  chips  from  the  check  rack 
as  he  desires.  As  the  checks  are  passed  out  a  tab  is  dropped 
on  his  sack.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  play  the  chips  on 
hand  are  credited  to  the  account  of  the  sack.  The  dealer 
hands  the  player  a  slip  of  paper  showing  the  condition  of  the 
account,  and  the  latter  takes  it  and  his  sack  of  gold  to  the 
bar.  If  he  has  lost  he  weighs  out  his  gold  dust,  or,  in  the 
event  of  winning,  the  barkeeper  does  the  paying.  At  first 
glance  it  would  seem  that  such  a  system  would  afford  con- 
siderable temptation  for  dishonest  men  to  walk  out  with 
their  sack  of  gold  without  settling  their  accounts.  Only 
one  or  two  instances  of  the  kind  liaA^e  occurred  and  the  con- 
demnation of  the  community  has  inflicted  such  punishment 
as  to  warrant  the  non-repetition  of  the  offence. 

About  four  o'clock  one  morning  a  miner  known  as 
'^  Shorty  "  left  his  seat  at  the  table  where  he  had  been  play- 
ing all  niglit,  saying  that  he  had  gone  broke.  The  dealer 
handed  him  his  bag  of  dust  and  his  slips,  the  latter  cor- 
responding almost  to  a  grain  with  the  value  of  the  gold. 
"  Shorty  "  walked  over  to  the  bar  and  invited  a  couple  of 
other  miners  to  have  a  drink.  Then  he  was  seized  with  a 
fatal  fit  of  forgetfulness. 

He  edged  toward  the  door  and  was  about  to  push  it  open 
when  the  bartender  called  to  him:  "  Say,  Shorty,  haven't 
you  forgot  something?  " 

The  door  swung  out.  When  it  rebounded  it  stopped 
half  way,  and  a  draught  of  icy  air  came  in.  There  had 
been  a  sudden  flash  of  flame,  a  ringing  report  in  that  low- 
ceiled,  smoke-darkened  room,  and  the  door  as  it  swung  in- 
ward was  obstructed  by  the  body  of  a  dying  man. 
"  Shorty  "  was  buried  the  next  day.  But  this  was  in  the 
early  days  of  Dawson.      It  was  not  long  bc^fore  it  l)ecame  an 


374  SETTLING  ACCOUNTS   WITH   GOLD  DUST 

offense  to  carry  firearms  about  and  a  better  order  was  en- 
forced. Dawson,  for  sucli  a  lively  and  mixed  settlement, 
has  afi'orded  few  instances  of  "  shooting." 

Saloons,  of  course,  were  "  wide  open  "  and  did  not  pay  a 
license.     As  a  rule  tliey  sold  a  fair  class  of  beverages. 
Drinks  and  cigars  retailed,  as  at  Circle  City,  at  fifty  cents, 
and  the  two  breweries  that  are  located  near  by  could  not 
supply  the  demand  for  beer  at  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars  a  keg.     A  poor  quality  of  champagne  was  retailed  at 
thirty  dollars  a  pint,  and  a  better  quality  at  ten  dollars 
higher.     As  at  Circle  City,  in  liqiTidating  indebtedness  at 
the  bar,  the  individual  doing  the  honors  passed  his  sack 
over  to  the  barkeeper,  who  poured  out  enough  gold  dust  to 
settle  the  account.     It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  the  bar- 
keepers were  never  charged  with  neglecting  to  take  enough 
dust,  and  particularly  when  the  patrons  are  somewhat  under 
the  influence  of  copious  libations.     Saloon  men  admitted 
privately  that  the  "  rake-off,"  as  they  term  overweighing, 
amounts  to  about  thirty  or  forty  cents  on  each  two  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  spent  over  the  bar.     The  receipts  for  sixty 
days  last  smumer  in  one  saloon  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  and  the  day 
the  successful  miners  were  taking  their  departure  on  the  first 
steamer  of  the  season  the  receipts  amounted  to  six  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars.     Hardly  a  saloon  in  to^vn  was  re- 
ceiving less  than  three  hundred  dollars  a  day,  besides  win- 
ning large  sums  of  money  at  the  gambling  games.     Bar- 
keepers were  paid  from  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents  to 
twenty  dollars  a  day,  and  even  the  porters,  where  such 
luxuries  were  deemed  necessary,  were  paid  from  seven  dol- 
lars and  fifty  cents  to  ten  dollars. 

"  Swiftwater  Bill  "  owned  some  of  the  richest  claims  on 


GAMBLING  SALOONS   AND   DANCE  HALLS  375 

Eldorado  Creek,  and  when  lie  broke  lo<3se  the  dust  was 
sure  to  lly.  Bill  took  a  seat  at  the  faro  table  one  night,  and 
in  just  one  hour  he  had  lost  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars in  gold  nuggets, 

"  Things  don't  seem  to  be  coming  my  way  to-night,"  he 
remarked  as  he  rose  from  his  seat  and  stretched  himself. 
"  Let  the  house  have  a  drink  at  my  expense." 

There  was  a  rush  for  the  bar,  and  waiters  carried  drinks 
to  the  various  tables  where  games  were  in  progress.  That 
round  cost  Bill  one  hundred  and  twelve  dollars.  Then  he 
lighted  a  dollar  and  a  half  cigar  and  strolled  out. 

The  gambling  saloons,  in  external  appearance,  are  very 
much  like  all  the  other  buildings  in  Dawson,  except  that 
they  are  larger.  They  are  built  of  logs  hewn  on  three  sides 
and  solidly  chinked  with  heavy  moss.  The  roofs  are  made 
of  poles,  on  which  a  layer  of  moss  fully  ten  inches  thick  is 
laid,  and  then  a  layer  of  dirt  about  twelve  inches  deep  serves 
to  keep  out  the  cold.  Heavy  embankments  of  earth  piled 
up  against  the  huts  on  the  outside  serve  as  additional  pro- 
tection against  the  chilling  blasts  of  the  Arctic  winter  gales. 
A  few  saloons  are  built  of  lumber,  with  double  walls, 
l)ctween  which  sawdust  and  moss  are  tightly  packed,  but  old 
Yukoners  are  of  the  opinion  that  buildings  so  constructed 
are  inadequate  against  the  severe  cold  weather. 

Dance  halls  are  constructed  in  the  same  manner  and  are 
generally  the  largest  buildings  in  town,  except  the  store- 
houses. They  are  opened  at  about  seven  or  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  and  the  band  plays  on  till  late  in  the  morning. 
The  amusement  continues  night  after  night.  The  halls  are 
crowded  with  gallant  beaux,  the  most  of  them  having  heavy 
spiked-bottom  shoes,  broad-brimmed  hats,  costumed  in  the 
regulation  mining  suits,  and,   with  cigars  between  their 


376  "SASHAY  all!" 

teeth,  tli(\v  present  an  odd  appearance.  Tliey  sit  around 
the  hall  on  the  benches,  smoking  and  talking  and  immensely 
enjoying  the  relaxation  from  the  hard  monotony  of  the 
mines.  Each  dance  costs  one  dollar,  and  I  have  lie^rd  of 
one  man  in  three  nights  spending  seven  ounces  of  gold,  or 
one  hundred  and  nineteen  dollars,  for  the  luxury.  In  some 
of  the  halls  a  free  fight  sometimes  concludes  the  festivities 
along  toward  morning.  Occasionally,  men  will  come  to 
blows  in  attempting  to  win  the  hand  of  some  woman  for  the 
succeeding  dance.  ''  Fair  play  "  is  the  watchword,  and  the 
best  skilled  pugilistic  gladiator  goes  to  the  head  of  the  set 
and  his  rival  goes  home. 

Even  if  one  is  not  a  dancer  and  has  rather  strict  ideas  of 
what  proper  female  society  should  be,  he  will  miss  a  good 
deal  of  fun  if,  when  he  goes  to  town  from  his  dreary  camp, 
he  does  not  look  in  and  watch  the  miners  enjoying  a  little 
relaxation.  One  scene  is  much  like  another.  You  enter  a 
large  building  with  a  smooth  floor  sometimes  overlaid  with 
heavy  drill.  You  could  almost  cut  the  tobacco-laden  atmos- 
phere with  a  knife.  Through  the  blue  haze  the  figures  of  a 
couple  of  musicians  can  be  faintly  distinguished,  fiddling 
away  for  dear  life,  and  calling  out,  "  Sashay  all!  "  "  Ladies' 
throiigh!  "  as  the  occasion  demands.  They  receive  twenty 
dollars  a  night  or  more  for  doing  this,  and  they  earn  every 
penny  of  it. 

At  one  side,  extending  the  entire  lengi"h  of  the  room, 
is  the  bar,  and  the  three  dispensers  of  drinks  are  kept  quite 
as  busy  as  the  fiddlers.  Beer,  whisky,  and  cigars  are  retailed 
at  fifty  cents.  A  poor  quality  of  champagne  sells  for  thirty 
dollars  a  pint,  and  a  somewhat  better  brand  brought  forty 
dollars. 

Of  course,  the  men  greatly  outnumber  the  women. 


MUCH   AMBITION  AND   LOVE   OF  ORDER  377 

There  are  probably  a  dozen  of  the  latter,  some  of  them 
young  and  quite  pretty.  They  have  little  or  no  time  to  rest 
between  the  dances,  and  when  the  morning  sun  peeps  over 
the  eastern  mountains  he  finds  them  a  tired  and  somewhat 
dishevelled  lot.  But  some  of  the  belles  of  the  "  dancing- 
set  "  have  been  known  to  make  as  much  as  a  hundred  dollars 
a  night  tripping  the  light  fantastic  toe  for  the  delight  of 
miners  at  once  lavish  and  well-stocked  with  dust. 

But  while  the  money  that  is  spent  in  saloons  and  dance 
halls,  and  the  money  that  is  lost  continually  over  the  various 
gambling  devices,  may  seem  to  be  enormous,  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  these  hardworking  miners  in  their  dreary 
camps  become  at  times  fairly  desperate  for  a  little  relaxation 
from  the  severe  hardships  of  their  existence.  If  they  are 
lucky,  gold  dust  becomes  to  them  a  cheap  commodity.  It 
means  very  little  to  them  when  at  any  time  they  can  dig  out 
all  they  want.  Making  all  allowances  for  men  of  bad  char- 
acter, certain  to  drift  into  such  places,  my  observations  con- 
vince me  that  Dawson  is  now  a  less  vicious  and  more  orderly 
place  than  the  new  mining  camps  of  the  Rockies  were. 
The  severity  of  life  on  the  Yukon  has  kept  out  many  desper- 
ate characters,  and  the  Klondike  has  now  been  largely  filled 
up  with  people  who,  while  they  may  not  have  been  experts 
in  mining,  have  a  taste  for  an  orderly  life,  and  are  too  solici- 
tous to  make  their  fortunes  and  leave  the  country  to  squan- 
der money  recklessly. 

The  population  of  Dawson  and  the  camps  that  line 
the  creeks  that  twist  away  south,  east,  and  southeast  from 
the  Klondike  and  Yukon  is  as  intelligent  as  any  I  have  ever 
known  in  any  mining  camp  in  the  West.  Indeed,  it  is  the 
most  moral  and  ambitious  mining  population  I  have  ever 
seen.     A  number  of  old  professional  miners  are  up  there, 


3?8  NOT   THE   RESORT   OF  THE   HARD-UP 

who  liavt'  seen  the  oihled  ^ambling  palaces  of  Virginia  City, 
and  have  lived  in  the  hot  days  of  Bodie,  Tombstone,  Ana- 
conda, and  Creede,  and  they  have  remarked  many  times 
that  the  miners  of  the  Klondike  are  another  race  of  men 
from  those  they  used  to  know  in  the  States.  To  be  sure, 
there  is  gambling  and  liberal  drinking  of  the  hardest  of 
hard  whisky,  but  they  say  the  scenes  are  never  comparable 
with  what  they  used  to  witness  every  night  when  the 
Bonanzas  were  ponring  out  their  golden  wealth  and  Tomb- 
stone was  making  a  dozen  new  millionaires. 

The  present  Klondike  miners  are  not  the  typical,  pic- 
turesque miners  the  world  has  been  hearing  about  for  half  a 
century.  It  is  my  private  opinion  that  the  awful  hardships 
one  endures  to  get  rich  up  there,  the  dangers  that  must  be 
braved,  and  the  privations  suffered  in  getting  to  the  new 
gold  fields  by  any  route,  make  men  there  sober  and  provi- 
dent. Where  men  have  these  characteristics  they  take 
fewer  chances  in  gambling.  Then,  too,  the  expense  of  get- 
ting to  Klondike  and  the  necessary  expenditure  of  several 
hundred  dollai-s  for  an  outfit  keep  out  of  the  Alaskan  min- 
ing region  a  horde  of  hard-up,  desperate  characters  similar 
to  those  that  have  made  all  the  western  mining  camps  so 
notoriously  bad.  I  doubt  if  Dawson  ever  will  be  a  hard, 
reckless,  wide-open  to^^^l  in  the  sense  that  Virginia  City 
and  Cripple  Creek  have  been.  It  has  had  during  the  win- 
ter of  1897-98  a  population  of  about  two  thousand  men  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty  women,  with  about  four  thousand 
five  hundred  more  miners  in  the  cabins  along  the  creeks, 
and  there  have  been  few  more  orderly  and  earnest  com- 
munities anywhere  in  the  T'nion.  I  never  knew  so  many 
well-educated,  thoughtful,  and  promising  men  in  any  camp 
as  there  are  at  Daw'son  to-day.     Some  are  Harvard  and 


A   DAWSON   M.D.  381 

Yale  graduates.  Two  young  women,  wives  of  ambitious 
young  miners,  are  from  Vassar  College,  and  a  physician, 
who  lives  there  in  a  log  cabin,  plastered  with  mud,  was  edu- 
cated at  Columbia  College  and  at  the  University  of  Paris. 
I  think  he  is  contented.  Anyhow,  he  ought  to  be  for  a 
year  or  two.  He  gets  half  an  ounce  of  gold  for  each  visit, 
and  for  simple  surgical  work  his  bill  runs  into  ounces  of 
gold  very  quickly.  It  seems  to  me  that  he  ought  to  clear  up 
two  or  three  pounds  of  gold  every  week  in  the  year. 

The  wealth  is  earned  by  such  hard  work  and  exposure 
that  the  better  class  of  miners  do  not  like  to  throw  their 
earnings  over  the  bar  with  the  recklessness  that  charac- 
terized the  miners  in  the  flash  mining  days  of  the  West. 
Moreover,  one  may  readily  see  that  a  climate  where  the  wind 
blows  and  moans  twenty  hours  out  of  every  twenty-four, 
and  where  the  mercury  fluctuates  between  two  degrees 
above  zero  and  forty  below  for  five  months  in  the  year,  is 
not  conducive  to  conviviality  and  hilarity  as  the  warm, 
balmy  climate  of  Tombstone  and  Virginia  City  were. 


CHAPTEE  XXVIl 

A  REFUGE  FOR  CRIMINALS  — THE  MINES  MORE  PROFITA- 
BLE THAN  SPORTING  DEVICES  — PURSUING  A  FUGI- 
TIVE—A CHASE  OF  25,000  MILES  FOR  AN  ESCAPED 
MURDERER. 

Too  Many  Sports  for  the  Demand  —  The  Arrest  of  Frank  Novak,  the 
Murderer  —  History  of  His  Crime  —  Enticing  an  Irish  Farmer  to 
His  Death  —  Searching  for  Novak  —  The  Wrong  Man  Arrested  — 
Another  Clue  —  It  Takes  tlie  Detective  to  Vancouver  —  Searching 
Resorts  on  the  Coast  —  Every  Ship's  Crew  Questioned  —  Requisi- 
tion on  the  Governor  of  Alaska  —  Gone  to  the  Klondike —  Extradi- 
tion Papers  from  Washington  —  Taken  to  Ottawa  —  Over  the 
Chilkoot  in  Pursuit  —  Passing  the  Fugitive  without  Suspecting 
Him  —  The  Pursued  Follows  the  Pursuer  —  Arrival  at  Dawson  — 
Searching  the  Camps  —  Giving  it  Up  —  Arrest  of  the  Murderer  — 
Returning  by  the  Yukon  —  A  Chase  of  25,000  Miles. 

IT  was  natural,  and  to  be  expected,  that  tlie  Klondike 
shonld  prove  a  tempting  refuge  for  those  who  had 
some  penalty  to  escape  in  the  States.  It  is  in  the 
Xorthwest  Territorv,  and  so  criminals  escaping  from  the 
officers  of  the  law  in  the  United  States  must  be  extradited. 
Moreover,  it  is  so  far  removed  that  it  seems  impossible  for 
the  law  to  reach  them  after  they  arrive  at  Dawson,  where 
there  is  no  thought  gi^'en  to  the  antecedents  of  the  in- 
habitants or  of  those  who  enter  too  rapidly  to  be  observed. 
Besides  all  this,  Dawson  and  the  mines  offer  opportunities 
for  making  money  which  have  attracted  thousands  wdio  had 
nothing  to  run  from.  Many  sporting  men  and  gamblers 
hastened  to  the  new  field,  but  the  supply  of  gambling  de- 

(382) 


INCENTIVES   TO   INDUSTRY  383 

vices  rather  exceeded  the  demand,  and  in  time  these  men 
found  more  commendable  means  of  earning  a  livelihood. 

The  truth  is  that  the  richness  of  the  mines  has  attracted 
even  men  of  a  sporting  turn  into  paths  of  industry.  Several 
well-known  Pacific  coast  sporting  men  have  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent abandoned  the  green  cloth  and  taken  up  the  profession 
of  mining.  Nearly  all  those  who  cling  to  the  gambling 
profession  have  acquired  claims  and  have  been  hiring  men 
to  work  them.  Frank  P.  Slavin  as  a  mining  man  is  real- 
izing more  dollars  than  he  ever  did  in  the  prize-ring.  He 
is  one  of  the  best  workers  in  the  country,  and  by  hard  rust- 
ling has  acquired  interests  in  twelve  or  fifteen  placer  claims 
and  one  quartz  lode.  A  Portland,  Ore.,  sport,  who  has  the 
reputation  of  "^  never  having  turned  a  crooked  card,"  has 
retired  from  the  green  cloth,  donned  a  miner's  suit,  and 
with  pick  and  shovel  is  digging  gold  out  of  claim  62 
below  on  Hunker  Creek.  Another  Seattle  sport  is  now  the 
owner  of  four  promising  claims  which  are  being  worked  this 
winter.  There  is  hardly  a  sporting  man  in  the  Klondike 
who  does  not  own  valuable  mines.  Late  in  the  autumn  of 
1897,  between  forty  and  sixty  sports  arrived  without  pro- 
visions, and  they  were  compelled  to  pass  on  do'wn  the  river 
to  Fort  Yukon  to  spend  the  winter. 

Those  who  came  to  Dawson  to  escape  the  penalty  of 
crime  found  that  they  were  not  entirely  safe.  One  of  the 
most  notable  cases  occurring  in  the  summer  qf  1897  was 
that  of  the  arrest  of  Frank  Novak,  after  a  chase  which  reads 
like  a  romance,  full  enough  of  adventure,  danger,  and  hard- 
ship to  satisfy  the  most  morbid  novel  reader. 

Frank  Alfred  Novak,  familiarly  known  as  Frank  Novak 
among  his  acquaintances,  was,  in  1890,  conducting  a  mer- 
cantile and  banking  business  at  the  little  town  of  Walford, 


384  CRIMES   OF  A  SPECULATOR 

in  Benton  county,  la.  He  had  for  his  partners  in  business 
a  widowed  sister  and  a  brother-in-law,  and  to  the  outside 
world  was  apparently  doing  a  prosperous  mercantile  busi- 
ness, besides  a  sort  of  accommodation  and  loan  business  in 
the  way  of  a  private  bank,  wdiere  the  farmers  and  residents 
of  the  town  did  their  banking  transactions.  The  apparent 
prosperity  of  the  firm  was,  however,  purely  superficial,  as 
Novak  had  contracted  a  gambling  mania  and  was  qiuetly 
but  surely  robbing  the  firm  of  its  assets  by  playing  the  grain 
market  in  Chicago.  In  three  or  four  years  he  had  squan- 
dered his  own  substance,  and  robbed  his  immediate  relatives 
and  friends  of  more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars,  which 
had  been  entrusted  to  him  as  business  manager  in  the  store 
and  banker  for  the  village.  The  day  of  reckoning  was  fast 
approaching,  and  Xovak,  realizing  that  the  denouement 
would  blast  the  confident  hopes  of  those  about  him,  pro- 
ceeded to  take  out  thirty  thousand  dollars  of  life  and  acci- 
dent insurance,  and  then  deliberately  set  about  to  procure  a 
victim  to  be  used  in  his  own  stead  as  a  cremated  corpse  upon 
which  his  beneficiaries  could  draw  the  insurance.  He  also 
had  the  stock  of  goods  and  the  store  building  in  which  he 
was  doing  business  insured  for  about  their  full  value,  and 
took  into  his  confidence  a  near  relative,  who  was  designed  to 
collect  the  insurance  after  the  disappearance  of  Trank 
Xovak. 

A  pretext  of  danger  to  the  stock  of  goods  through  ex- 
pected burglare  or  incendiaries  was  invented,  and  Xovak 
began  sleeping  in  his  store,  ostensibly  to  guard  against  such 
calamity.  He  also  began  assiduously  plying  his  ac- 
quaintances, who  chanced  to  be  about  the  same  age,  build, 
and  weight  as  himself,  with  invitations  to  sleep  with  him  in 
the  store.     These  invitations,  fortunately,  were  declined 


THE   PLOT   FAILS  385 

by  each  person  approached,  until  the  night  of  February  2, 
1807,  when  a  reputable  young  Irish  farmer  by  the  name  of 
Edward  Murray  acceded  to  Novak's  solicitations  and  re- 
mained with  him  in  the  store  up  to  the  hour  of  retiring. 
They  were  seen  together  at  11:30  P.  M.,  and  at  1:30  A.  M. 
of  February  3d  the  building  was  discovered  on  fire,  and  was 
soon  a  mass  of  ruins,  with  the  conviction  forced  upon  every 
spectator  that  Novak  and  Murray  had  been  consumed  in  the 
conflagration.  Upon  searching  the  cooling  embers,  how- 
ever, it  was  found  that  only  one  partly  charred  corpse  was 
in  the  remains  of  the  building,  and,  while  a  number  of  in- 
effectual attempts  were  made  by  interested  parties  to  estab- 
lish the  identity  of  this  corpse  as  that  of  Frank  Novak,  the 
anatomical  differences  were  so  great  and  the  dental  dis- 
tinctions so  peculiar  that  a  coroner's  jury  found  no  great 
difficulty  on  considering  the  evidence  laid  before  them  in  ar- 
riving at  a  verdict  that  the  remains  were  those  of  Edward 
Murray,  and  that  no  trace  of  Frank  Novak  was  left  in  the 
building. 

Steps  were  at  once  taken  by  the  authorities  of  the  State 
of  Iowa  and  the  county  of  Benton  to  search  out  and  ap- 
prehend Frank  Novak,  and  other  persons  took  a  hand  in  the 
matter,  securing  Thiol's  detective  service  to  prosecute  the 
search  for  the  murderer.  Detective  C.  C.  Perrin  was  de- 
tailed to  handle  the  case.  He  was  peculiarly  fitted  for  it. 
Tall,  of  medium  weight,  he  has  the  figure  and  muscles  of  an 
athlete.  His  square-cut  chin  and  mouth  show  the  grit  and 
force  that  finally  brought  Novak  to  bay. 

A  trail  was  struck,  and,  although  the  offense  was  several 
weeks  old  when  the  detective  started  upon  the  case,  Novak 
was  followed  across  the  country  on  foot  over  several  coun- 
ties in  Iowa,  and  then  by  conveyance  an  equal  distance, 


386  FOLLOWING   THE   WRONG   CLUE 

being  landed  in  Iowa  City,  which  was  believed  to  be  a 
happy  rendezvous  for  him,  as  he  was  known  to  have  friends 
living  at  that  place.  Some  time  elapsed  before  any  further 
clue  was  obtained  to  the  movements  of  the  murderer,  and 
he  was  believed  to  be  in  hiding  in  that  city  or  vicinity  until 
the  description  of  a  man  tallying  with  that  of  Novak  was 
picked  up  from  the  appearance  of  a  passenger  on  a  train 
bound  for  an  eastern  port,  and,  in  following  up  this  clue,  it 
developed  that  this  man  was  a  Bohemian,  and  as  Xovak 
was  a  Bohemian-American,  he  was  believed  to  be  the  same 
person. 

The  trail  was  followed  to  Baltimore,  Md.,  where  ship- 
ping agents  and  others  recognized  the  photograph  and  de- 
scription of  Xovak  as  answering  to  that  of  a  man  who  had 
arrived  at  that  port  and  shipped  for  Bohemia  on  the  18th  of 
February.  A  cablegram  was  immediately  sent  to  Mr. 
Keenan,  American  consul  in  Gennany,  who  had  the  pas- 
senger described  apprehended  on  the  arrival  of  the  steamer 
HaUe  at  Bremen  on  March  1st,  and  after  several  days' 
cabling  and  comparisons  of  descriptions  it  was  decided  that  a 
case  of  mistaken  identity  had  led  to  the  arrest  of  the  wrong- 
man,  and  this  clue  had  to  be  dropped. 

The  detective  again  returned  to  Iowa  City,  and,  after  a 
prolonged  search  in  and  about  this  place,  a  clue  was  finally 
struck  on  the  11th  day  of  March  in  the  shape  of  a  descrip- 
tion of  a  passenger  who  bought  a  ticket  at  midnight  on  Feb- 
ruary 3d  to  Omaha,  Xeb.,  over  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  tt 
Pacific  Railroad.  By  a  diligent  inquiry  among  railway  and 
sleeping-car  employes  who  had  been  in  charge  of  the  cars 
and  train  on  the  date  named,  the  representative  of  Thiel's 
service  was  satisfied  that  he  was  on  the  right  track,  and  im- 
mediately went  to  Omaha,  where  an  active  search  was  taken 


THE   SEARCH   AT   PORTLAND  387 

up,  and  by  the  aid  of  tlie  local  police  department  in  the 
course  of  a  couple  of  days  the  fleeing  man's  identity  was 
once  more  established  by  description  and  photograph  in  the 
person  of  a  passenger  who  bought  a  ticket  over  the  Union 
Pacific  system  from  Omaha  to  Vancouver,  B.  C. 

The  detective  was  now  five  weeks  behind  the  fleeing 
murderer,  but,  nothing  daunted,  took  the  next  train  for 
Portland,  Ore.,  where  a  stop  was  made  and  search  instituted 
to  see  if  the  ticket  had  been  used  through  to  Vancouver,  or 
if  the  passenger  had  stopped  off  at  Portland,  as  is  frequently 
done  by  persons  seeking  to  get  a  cut  rate  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
The  detective's  knowledge  of  this  phase  of  railroad  travel 
proved  most  fortunate,  for,  after  a  quiet  inquiry  at  Portland, 
running  over  a  couple  of  days,  it  was  discovered  that  Novak, 
using  the  name  of  Frank  Alfred  on  his  ticket,  had  stopped 
at  Portland  and  cashed  the  portion  reading  to  Vancouver 
with  a  broker  at  the  former  place. 

Being  at  sea  once  more  as  to  the  probable  course  taken 
by  the  fugitive,  still  five  weeks  ahead  of  the  detective,  the 
latter  began  a  quiet  search  of  all  the  hotels,  lodging  houses, 
mercantile  establishments,  employment  agencies,  steamship 
and  railroad  ticket  offices,  and  other  points  where  informa- 
tion might  be  obtained  touching  a  transient  stranger,  and 
for  a  while  it  looked  as  though  every  trace  of  Novak  had 
vanished. 

Portland  and  its  suburbs  were  submitted  to  this  exhaus- 
tive kind  of  inquiry  for  a  number  of  days,  without  dis- 
covering any  trace  whatever  of  Novak's  presence  or  move- 
ments, and  inquiry  was  finally  extended  to  San  Francisco 
and  other  seaport  towns  on  the  Pacific  coast  with  a  view  to 
picking  up  a  clue  at  some  remote  point,  on  the  belief  that 
Novak  had  eluded  notice  in  passing  through  Portland.     All 


388  THE  FUGITIVE  IDENTIFIED 

returning  steamers  from  ocean  voyages  as  they  landed  at 
Pacific  coast  points  were  met  on  tlieir  arrival,  and  the  several 
crews  and  any  returning  passengers  who  had  been  on  the 
outgoing  trips  were  carefully  questioned  touching  any  one 
answering  Novak's  description  having  gotten  aboard  at  any 
other  coast  point  on  any  of  the  recent  trips  of  the  steamers 
since  February  7th,  which  was  the  known  date  of  his  arrival 
at  Portland. 

On  March  31st,  at  the  end  of  a  couple  of  weeks'  search 
of  this  character,  the  steamer  Al-Ki,  returning  from  Sitka, 
was  met  at  Seattle,  and  upon  being  interrogated  all  of  the 
officers  and  crew  and  one  returning  passenger  at  once  recog- 
nized Xovak's  photograph,  and  were  capable  of  giving  an 
accurate  description  of  him  in  the  person  of  a  passenger  who 
embarked  on  the  Al-Ki  at  Port  Townsend  February  23d, 
ticketed  for  Juneau.  They  also  added  the  inf onnation  that 
he  had  been  seen  in  Juneau  a  week  or  ten  days  previous,  as- 
sociating with  a  prospector  who  was  going  mth  other  gold- 
liunters  into  the  mining  district  up  the  Yukon.  This  in- 
formation was  promptly  wired  to  headquarters  of  the  Thiel 
detective  service,  where  steps  were  at  once  taken  to  procure 
requisition  papers  for  ISTovak.  By  the  prompt  action  of  the 
State  officers,  the  requisition  was  at  once  obtained  on  the 
governor  of  Alaska  for  ISTovak,  though,  as  it  transpired, 
ISTovak  had  not  been  indicted  in  Benton  County,  Ta,,  on  the 
date  previously  reported,  as  the  grand  jury  had  been  so 
pressed  with  business  that  it  could  not  take  up  this  ease. 

While  these  proceedings  were  being  had  in  Iowa,  Per- 
rin,  who  Avas  following  I^ovak,  embarked  on  the  first 
steamer  for  Alaska,  which  proved  to  be  the  Al-Ki,  leaving 
Seattle  April  4th,  and  the  requisition  papers  were  forwarded 
to  him  at  Juneau  by  mail  from  Des  Moines,  la.,  on  April 


ON   THE  RIGHT  TRACK  389 

7tli,  to  reach  him  by  the  next  steamer  sailing  for  the  gold 
country. 

After  the  requisition  papers  on  the  governor  of  Alaska 
had  been  procured,  it  was  ascertained  that  Novak  had  left 
Junean  for  the  gold  fields  of  the  Yukon  River  in  Canada, 
when  it  became  necessary  to  procure  extradition  papers  on 
the  governor  of  Canada.  A  detective  went  to  Iowa  to 
secure  the  necessary  papers;  from  thence  he  went  to  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  to  secure  the  signature  of  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  State  to  same.  He  then  went  to  Ottawa,  all 
of  the  officials  concerned  giving  the  matter  the  utmost  ex- 
pedition, so  that  he  was  enabled  to  reach  the  Pacific  coast 
on  May  20th,  three  months  and  a  half  behind  the  fugitive 
Novak,  sailing  from  Victoria  on  the  steamer  Mexico  May 
24th  for  Juneau.  Here  he  outfitted  for  the  trip  into  the 
Yukon  country,  going  in  by  way  of  the  Chilkoot  Pass  at 
Dyea.  Another  detective  was  sent  to  St.  Michael,  about 
three  thousand  miles  away,  to  watch  all  steamers  arriving 
there  from  the  Yukon  gold  fields,  to  see  that  Novak  did  not 
escape  on  some  of  the  sailing  vessels  leaving  that  port  for 
dificrent  parts  of  the  world. 

June  8th  Perrin  left  Juneau  with  a  year's  outfit  for 
Dyea,  going  over  the  Chilkoot  Pass  to  Lake  Lindeman, 
where  he  built  a  boat. 

At  the  same  time  Novak  and  his  party  were  completing 
a  boat  on  Lake  Bennett,  but  a  few  miles  further  on.  They 
had  taken  in  a  big  lot  of  supplies,  and  in  getting  them  over 
the  pass  and  in  making  ready  for  the  trip  down  the  river  had 
consumed  over  a  month  of  time. 

One  morning  Perrin  and  his  Indian  guides  set  sail  in 
their  boat  on  their  journey.  At  the  same  time  Novak's 
party  started  on  Lake  Bennett  in  a  rude  scow.     Early  in 


390  EXCHANGING  SALUTATIONS 

tlic  afternoon  Perrin  saw  the  scow  ahead  of  liini  on  Lake 
Bennett,  and  rapidly  overhauled  it  in  his  light  sailboat.  He 
went  within  a  hnndred  feet  of  the  boat  and  exchanged  good- 
natured,  joking  salutations  with  its  occupants  as  he  swept 
past,  never  dreaming  that  one  of  the  number  was  the  man 
he  sought. 

"  That  scow^  wasn't  built  for  a  racer,  was  she?  "  shouted 
the  detective. 

"  She's  slow,  but  sure,"  was  the  reply. 

"  "Well,  good-bye,"  said  the  detective  as  his  boat  drew 
ahead. 

"  So  long,"  returned  Xovak,  "  Save  a  little  of  the  gold 
for  us." 

"  Of  course." 

From  there  on  down  the  river  for  a  thousand  miles  into 
the  diggings  the  pursuer  was  followed  by  the  pursued.  Per- 
rin reached  Dawson  ten  days  ahead  of  his  man,  and  at  once 
began  a  sharp  search  for  him,  quickly  coming  to  the  con- 
clusion that  he  was  not  in  Dawson.  Xo  one  remembered 
having  seen  a  man  answering  the  description.  Then  the 
detective  went  over  the  trails  to  the  camp  and  searched  in 
vain  along  the  creeks.  He  returned  to  Dawson  very  much 
puzzled.  Finally,  he  concluded  that  ISTovak  must  have  gone 
up  the  Stewart  River,  without  coming  to  Dawson.  There 
were  reports  of  several  miners  prospecting  on  that  stream 
with  good  results,  and  many  tenderfeet  w^ere  making  prepa- 
rations to  go  up  there.  The  detective  concluded  that  he 
would  go,  too,  and  this  meant  that  he  would  have  to  winter 
there.  He  was  about  ready  to  start  when  the  scow  which 
he  had  passed  on  the  way  in  was  pushed  up  to  the  beach  at 
Dawson.  Perrin  walked  over  towards  the  men  to  exchange 
greetings. 


RECOGNITION   AND   ARREST  391 

"Jingo!  "  he  exclaimed  under  bis  breath  as  he  came, 
closer  to  the  scow.  He  remembered  his  photograph  and 
was  pretty  snre  he  had  his  man,  but  he  talked  good- 
natnredly  with  Novak,  and  then  laid  the  matter  before 
Captain  C.  Constantine  of  the  Canadian  mounted  police. 
In  a  few  hours  Novak  was  arrested  by  Captain  Constantine 
and  turned  over  to  Perrin. 

Perrin  placed  his  prisoner  in  a  boat  and  that  night 
started  down  the  river  during  a  heavy  storm  for  Fort 
Cudahy,  where  three  days  later,  he  took  the  steamer  P.  J. 
Healey  for  St.  llichael.  The  two  thousand  miles  down  the 
river  were  made  in  eleven  days,  and  then  came  a  two-weeks 
wait  for  the  Portland.  From  St.  Michael  to  Seattle,  and 
at  all  times  during  the  entire  trip,  a  continuous  watch  was 
kept  over  Novak  by  Perrin  and  two  assistants.  Then  he 
started  east  with  his  man,  and  when  he  delivered  him 
safe  in  the  Iowa  jail  he  had  been  over  six  months  constantly 
on  the  go,  during  which  time  he  had  traveled  nearly  twenty- 
five  thousand  miles  and  endured  many  of  the  hardships  of 
the  Yukon. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

WOMEN  IN  THE  KLONDIKE  — SOIVIE  ROMANTIC  STORIES — 
EXPERIENCE  OF  A  WOMAN  ON  THE  TRAIL  — HOW 
WOMEN  HAVE  MADE  FORTUNES. 

A  Little  Home  Life  —  Two  White  Women  in  Camp  the  First  Winter  — 
Mrs.  Lippy  the  Pioneer  —  Mrs.  Berry's  Story  of  Her  Journey  —  Be- 
ginning to  Despair  —  Starting  for  the  Klondike  —  A  Cabin  Unfit  to 
Live  In  —  Picking  Up  Nuggets  of  Gold  —  Wading  in  Mud  Waist 
Deep  —  Housekeeping  No  Joke  —  Arrival  of  a  Plucky  Little 
Wife  —  Makes  Her  Home  on  a  Scow  —  On  Terra  Firma  at  Last  — 
An  Eye  to  Business  —  One  Hundred  Dollars  a  Month  for  Caring 
for  Two  Children  —  In  Doubt  as  to  the  Day  of  the  Week  —  Dogs 
and  ^Mosquitoes,  "but  the  Gold 's  all  Right "  —  Romantic  Career  of 
a  Woman  —  Joins  the  Stampede  from  Circle  City  —  Cooking 
for  $15  a  Day  —  Facing  Claim-Jumpers  —  Making  $12,000  in  a  Few 
Weeks  —  Opportunities  to  Marry  Rich  Husbands  —  Gallantry  of 
the  Men  —  What  a  Woman  Should  Wear  —  A  Queer  Trousseau. 

THERE  is  a  better  side  to  the  life  in  Dawson  City  and 
in  the  camps  along  the  creeks,  such  a  thing  as  home 
life  amid  the  rough  surroundings,  and  there  are 
brave  women  there,  women  who  have  shared  with  their  hus- 
bands or  fathers  the  hardships  of  the  journey  and  who  pre- 
side over  their  cabins  in  the  town  or  at  the  mines  with 
touches  of  that  womanlv  grace  and  skill  all  the  more  notice- 
able under  such  harsh  conditions.  At  first  women  of  this 
variety  were  rare,  but  after  the  rush  from  outside  was  fairly 
imder  way  there  was  a  marked  enlargement  in  home  life, 
while  many  respectable  women  became  engaged  in  self- 

(392) 


ONE   WOMAN   IN   THE   CAMP  393 

supporting  pursuits,  gTeatly  increasing  the  comforts  of  tlie 
settlement.  During  the  first  winter  in  the  camps  along 
the  creeks  there  were  but  two  white  women,  and  their  ex- 
periences were  certainly  romantic. 

When  Mrs.  Lippy  arrived  at  the  camp  on  Eldorado 
Creek,  there  were  no  other  women  there  except  a  few 
squaws,  and  these  Yukon  Indians,  male  or  female,  are  not 
worth  counting.  Her  husband  put  up  the  first  log  cabin 
on  the  creek,  and  while  it  was  being  erected  they  lived  in  a 
tent.  All  the  furniture  they  had  was  made  out  of  boxes 
and  slabs  by  Mr.  Lippy,  and  all  the  food  they  had  at  first 
was  canned.  Mrs.  Lippy  did  no  mining  herself,  but  at- 
tended to  the  domestic  duties,  which  are  certainly  arduous 
enough  in  such  a  place,  and  she  made  her  husband  so  com- 
fortable and  enabled  him  to  rest  so  thoroughly  that  he  was 
enabled  to  accomplish  more  than  most  of  the  miners  during 
the  cold  weather. 

After  a  time  Mrs.  Berry  came  into  the  camp,  and  Mrs. 
Lippy  had  some  association  with  her  own  sex.  Mrs.  Berry's 
advent  into  the  Klondike  regions  was  quite  romantic,  as  it 
was  in  the  nature  of  a  bridal  trip,  Mr.  Berry  having  mar- 
ried her,  as  already  related,  in  the  spring  of  1896,  before 
setting  out  for  the  gold  country. 

"  The  journey  over  the  ice  and  snow  is  one  that  I  am  not 
likely  to  forget,"  said  Mrs.  Berry,  in  telling  the  story  of  her 
experiences.  "  The  accommodations  for  a  woman  were 
very  poor,  the  transportation  was  slow,  the  dog  teams  we  had 
were  not  accustomed  to  the  climate,  and  altogether  we  ap- 
peared to  be  in  a  bad  fix  much  of  the  time. .  We  carried  with 
ns  our  stove  and  tent,  and  the  latter  we  pitched  every  night 
on  seme  spot  where  the  snow  was  hard.  Our  beds  were 
made  of  boughs.     My  husband  was  careful  to  provide  every 


304  MRS.  berry's  adventures 

comfort  possible.  Just  before  leaving  Juneau  I  was  given  a 
largo  bear-skin  robe,  wliicli  greatly  added  to  my  comfort.  1 
rode  nearly  all  the  way.  During  the  journey  I  was  strapped 
to  the  sled  or  boat,  as  the  case  might  be,  and  while  it  was 
considerably  better  than  walking,  there  was  always  an  un- 
certainty about  my  position  which  made  it  very  uncom- 
fortable. At  first  it  was  very,  very  cold,  but  after  that  I 
became  used  to  it.  I  want  to  say  just  here,  that  the  trip 
over  the  Juneau  route,  when  the  lakes  and  rivers  are  broken 
up  and  filled  with  floating  ice,  is  particularly  hazardous  to 
women.  They  are  not  nearly  so  well  able  as  men  to  stand 
the  hardships  and  dangers  incident  to  such  a  journey.  I  do 
not  think  I  would  be  willing  to  make  the  same  trip  again, 
though  if  my  husband  goes  back  next  spring  I  shall  prob- 
ably accompany  him. 

"  When  we  arrived  at  Forty  Mile  we  found  that  there 
was  absolutely  nothing  to  do.  ]\Iy  husband  struck  a  claim 
and  made  some  money  in  that  way,  but  it  was  hardly  enough 
to  keep  us  going.  In  anticipation  of  just  such  luck,  how- 
ever, we  had  brought  ample  supplies  with  us,  and  also  some 
money,  and  so  did  not  suffer.  Just  as  we  were  beginning  to 
despair  there  came  the  news  of  the  wonderful  find  on  the 
Klondike.  I  told  my  husband  the  best  thing  we  could  do 
would  be  to  go  to  that  section  immediately.  He  objected 
at  first,  but  finally  yielded  to  my  persuasion  and  started  for 
the  diggings.  I  was  left  behind,  by  my  own  request,  to  fix 
up  the  camp  and  to  take  all  the  provisions  we  had  to  the  new 
discovery.  I  cannot  begin  to  tell  you  of  the  hardships  I 
encountered.  The  river  was  already  beginning  to  show 
signs  of  floating  ice,  and  I  knew  it  would  be  only  a  short  time 
before  it  would  be  completely  frozen  over.  Finally,  how- 
ever, I  got  everything  in  order  and  started  on  the  Arctic 


PICKING   UP   NUGGETS  395 

for  the  new  Eldorado.  About  half  way  up  I  came  across 
my  husband  and  his  party,  and  they  joined  me  on  the 
Arctic. 

"  The  roughest  experience  I  had  during  my  entire  stay 
in  Alaska  was  at  the  mining  camp  fifteen  miles  from  Daw- 
son City.  When,  having  waded  and  stumbled  over  the 
trail,  I  reached  the  house  where  I  was  to  spend  tlie  winter, 
I  found  it  utterly  unfit  for  any  woman  to  live  in.  There 
was  neither  floor  nor  windows,  and  Mr.  Berry  had  to  cut  a 
hole  in  the  wall  in  order  to  get  the  stove  in.  Finally  all 
of  these  difficulties  were  overcome,  and  I  was  fairly  com- 
fortable. It  was  December  6tli  when  we  struck  the  first 
gold,  and  it  was  a  happy  day  for  me  as  well  as  for  my  hus- 
band, who  had  worked  so  hard  to  gain  an  independence. 
Of  course,  at  the  time  we  did  not  know  just  what  we  were 
making,  but  it  was  not  long  before  the  truth  dawned  upon 
us  that  we  were  in  a  fair  way  to  win  a  fortune.  All  last 
winter  I  visited  the  mines,  and,  as  the  great  chunks  of  frozen 
earth  were  dumped  on  the  ground,  I  busied  myself  in  pick- 
ing out  the  nuggets. 

"  I  think  that  during  the  season  I  picked  up  something 
like  ten  thousand  dollars.  I  used  to  turn  the  clods  over,  and 
then,  with  a  sharp  stick,  dig  into  them  as  far  as  I  could  until 
I  came  across  something  that  looked  like  gold.  The  largest 
nugget  I  found  was  worth  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  dol- 
lars, and  it  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the  best  individual  prizes 
found  in  the  diggings.  I  enjoyed  good  health  in  spite  of  the 
hardships,  and  actually  gained  twenty-two  pounds  while  in 
Alaska.  I  attribute  this  to  my  taking  good  care  of  myself, 
never  unnecessarily  exposing  myself  to  the  weather,  though 
I  was  nearly  always  around  the  camp.  I  liked  to  be  there 
because  it  was  lonesome  at  the  cabin,  and  then  again  there 


30G  A   HOME  ON   A  SCOW 

^vas  ahvavs  the  possibility  of  finding  that  which  we  had  come 
so  far  to  secure. 

"  I  did  not  mind  the  hardships  very  much.  Mr.  Berry's 
claim  was  nineteen  miles  from  Dawson,  and  I  walked  all  the 
way  over  the  ice.  It  took  us  two  days  to  get  there,  and  I 
was  nearly  dead  when  we  arrived.  When  we  came  out  it 
was  spring,  and  the  mud  was  so  deep  that  I  frequently  went 
in  to  my  waist,  and  over  my  knees  at  every  step.  I  wore 
rubber  boots  and  short  skirts  all  the  time  I  was  there.  In 
the  winter  I  wore  short  skirts,  bloomers,  fur-lined  moc- 
casins to  the  knee,  a  fur  coat,  hood,  and  mittens.  I  kept 
house,  aud  I  tell  you  it's  no  joke." 

After  a  housewife  has  gone  over  the  Chilkoot  Pass  and 
has  shot  the  rapids,  it  may  be  declared  a  certainty  that  she 
is  made  of  sterling  material,  and  it  was  indeed  interesting  to 
watch  the  women  who  were  among  the  new  arrivals  and  to 
hear  them  tell  of  their  experiences.  One  July  day  a  man 
and  his  wife  came  drifting  down  the  river  in  a  scow  and 
landed  at  Dawson.  She  was  a  small  body,  but  there  was  a 
fire  in  her  black  eyes  that  showed  grit  and  determination, 
and  it  was  pleasing  to  notice  how  quickly  she  accommodated 
herself  to  circumstances.  Lots  were  then  selling  at  enor- 
mous prices  back  in  the  swamp  on  which  Dawson  is  located, 
and  she  told  her  husband  they  couldn't  afford  to  pay  those 
prices  yet  for  such  ground. 

Their  scow  was  a  large  one,  and  in  no  time  she  had  their 
goods  piled  up  on  one  end  and  the  tent  set  up  on  the  other. 

"  Xone  of  your  fancy  prices  for  that  house  and  lot,"  she 
said  as  she  began  to  make  things  comfortable  for  living.  It 
certainly  was  quite  as  pleasant  as  living  on  one  of  the  swamp 
lost  in  the  summer.  They  lived  there  on  the  bank  of  the 
river  some  little  time  till  the  husband  finally  found  a  loca- 


AN   EYE   TO    BUSINESS  397 

tion  and  started  to  erect  a  cabin.  In  about  a  month  she 
was  bustling  around  in  her  new  home  putting  things  to 
rights. 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  can  tell  you  I  am  pretty  glad  to  get  on  terra 
firma  again,"  she  said,  "  that  is,  if  you  can  call  this  sort  of 
ground  terra  firma.  It's  an  improvement,  however.  I've 
been  living  on  a  boat  ever  since  last  March,  nearly  five 
months.  To  tell  the  truth,  I'm  a  little  tired  of  gypsy  life, 
though  I've  stood  it  pretty  well.  Yes,  our  house  is  larger 
than  most  of  them  here  —  twenty-three  feet  by  sixteen. 
But  we  have  two  stoves,  and  I  think  we  will  be  able  to  keep 
it  warm  next  winter.  As  to  furnishing  —  well,  I  don't 
know.  This  is  a  queer  town,  isn't  it?  But  the  gold's  all' 
right." 

She  had  an  eye  to  business,  and  it  had  been  her  inten- 
tion to  secure  a  lot  near  the  center  or  business  portion  and 
start  a  bakery.  "  Just  think  of  it,"  she  said  to  her  husband, 
"  bread  is  worth  fifty  cents  a  loaf,  one-pound  pies  one  dollar 
each,  just  such  as  I  used  to  make  at  home.  They  say  I 
could  sell  a  scowload  every  day.  I  talked  with  one  woman 
who  bakes,  and  she  said  the  men  came  in  and  threw  down 
their  sacks  of  gold,  and  when  she  took  out  what  she  thought 
about  the  right  amount  and  weighed  it,  if  it  went  over  the 
requisite  weight,  they  would  say,  '  ISTever  mind,  madam,  let 
it  go.'  Many  times  she  gets  from  seventy-five  cents  to  one 
dollar  for  a  loaf  of  bread.  A  sack  of  flour  costs  six  dollars 
here,  and  it  makes  forty-five  loaves  of  bread." 

They  paid  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  their  lot, 
which  was  some  distance  back  near  the  banks  of  the  Klon- 
dike. Before  they  had  owned  it  many  days  they  sold  one- 
quarter  of  it,  off  the  rear,  for  soventy-fivo  dollars,  and  then 
one-half  of  the  front  for  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  dol- 


398  HER  INTERESTING   CHARGES 

lars.  As  she  was  too  far  from  the  center  to  make  a  bakery 
profitable,  she  thought  she  wouhl  turn  lier  attention  to  other 
matters,  and  finally  secured  a  chance  to  take  care  of  a  couple 
of  children.     In  telling  about  them  she  said: 

''  One  of  them  is  ten  years  old  and  the  other  is  six. 
They  are  regular  little  teiTors.  I  wash  them  both  six  times 
a  day,  and  bathe  them  all  over  in  a  tub  of  water  twice  a 
week,  and  then  they  are  ahvays  smutty.  They  are  girls 
and  as  ugly  as  sin.  Their  mother  is  a  woman  from  Juneau. 
Robert  says,  '  Why  don't  you  wdiale  them? '  He  says  I  am 
altogether  too  easy  with  them.  I  have  not  whipped  them 
yet,  and  I  won't.  I  don't  expect  to  have  them  long.  There 
is  a  Catholic  church,  a  school,  and  a  hospital  building  just 
below  where  we  are  living,  and  when  they  are  completed  I 
expect  the  little  ones  will  stay  with  the  Sisters.  The  Sisters 
are  expected  here  on  the  next  boat  from  St.  Michael,  which, 
if  there  is  water  enough  for  it  to  get  up  the  river,  will  be 
here  in  about  a  month.  The  girls  say  they  don't  want  to 
live  with  the  Sisters;  that  they  want  to  live  with  me  and  to 
go  to  school  from  here.  They  lived  with  the  Sisters  in 
Juneau,  and  they  say  the  Sisters  are  not  so  good  to  them  as 
I  am ;  that  they  make  them  work,  and  that  they  whip  them. 
The  little  ones  appear  to  like  me  very  much.  I  get  one 
hundred  dollars  a  month  for  taking  care  of  the  little  terrors, 
and  I  guess  I  earn  every  cent  of  it,  but  their  mother  fur- 
nishes the  bedding  and  a  tent  for  them  to  sleep  in." 

I  had  found  out  that  this  w^oman  made  wonderfully  fine 
bread,  and  had  purchased  some  occasionally.  A  little  real 
bread  is  a  great  delicacy  on  the  Yukon,  and  while  I  had 
looked  upon  myself  as  quite  an  expert  I  could  recognize  the 
superiority  of  her  light  loaves.  One  day  when  I  went  to  the 
cabin  she  had  just  finished  baking. 


NEIGHBORLY   ATTENTIONS  399 

"  I've  baked  seven  loaves  of  bread,  four  pies,  and  a  batch 
of  ginger-snaps  to-day,"  she  said.  "  By  the  way,  what  day 
isitr' 

"  Saturday,  I  believe,  but  I'm  not  sure." 

"  I  can  never  tell  in  this  region  without  looking  it  up. 
This  perpetual  daylight,  when  there  is  so  much  to  do,  gets 
one  all  mixed  up.  Never  saw  such  a  place  to  live  in  in  all 
my  life.  Still,  we  get  along  nicely.  There  are  some  ad- 
vantages in  the  country  besides  the  gold.  We  have  been 
having  a  lot  of  the  most  delicious  fish  —  king  salmon. 
There  are  two  fishermen  who  live  on  the  river  bank  just 
below  here,  and  I  guess  they  must  have  taken  a  fancy  to  me, 
as  they  send  us  fish  every  day.  They  sell  their  fish  for  fifty 
cents  a  pound,  but  they  don't  charge  me  anything  for  them. 
Yesterday  they  gave  me  ten  or  twelve  pounds,  five  or  six 
dollars'  worth,  and  to-day  they  gave  me  another  large  piece. 
I  give  them  a  loaf  of  bread  and  a  pie  once  in  a  while.  To- 
day I  took  them  a  loaf  of  bread,  a  pie,  and  a  lot  of  ginger- 
snaps.  My,  but  they  appear  so  grateful!  I  love  to 
give  to  them,  for  they  appear  so  grateful  for  such  trifles. 
There  are  two  of  them  —  a  father  and  a  son.  They  have  a 
lot  of  dogs,  eight  large  ones  and  seven  small  ones.  There 
are  more  dogs  to  the  square  yard  here,  I  guess,  than  in  any 
place  on  earth.  We  have  dog  concerts  every  night.  Such 
lugubrious  howls  as  these  native  dogs  give  utterance  to; 
and  the  exotics  soon  strike  the  key  and  become  initiated.  It 
is  something  fearful.  I  am  starving  for  vegetables  and 
fruit.  And  the  mosquitoes  —  oh!  they  are  terrible.  They 
make  life  a  burden.     But  the  gold's  all  right." 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  fortune-making 
by  a  woman  was  that  of  Mrs.  Wills,  whom  T  had  met  at 
Circle  City  in  1800,  where  she  was  baking  bread  on  a 
2i 


400  MRS.    WILLS   HAS   THE   GOLD   FEVER 

"^'ukou  stove,  with  the  results  told  in  a  previous  chapter. 
As  the  Circle  City  miners  congregated  at  Mrs.  Wills's 
bakery  for  their  daily  bread,  it  became  one  of  the  news 
centers  of  the  place,  and  to  this  is  due  the  fact  that  she  was 
among  the  first  to  hear  of  the  rich  strike  on  the  Klondike. 
Although  she  Avas  making  money  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five 
dollars  a  day,  it  only  whetted  her  appetite  for  gold,  and  she 
no  sooner  heard  of  the  Klondike  than  she  was  ready  to  start. 

It  was  three  hundred  long,  dreary  miles  over  snow  and 
ice  to  Dawson.  Securing  a  mate  for  her  dog,  she  closed 
her  bakery,  and  started  alone.  Two  days  later  she  was 
joined  by  a  party  of  cattlemen,  who  had  heard  the  wonder- 
ful stories  of  Klondike  gold,  and  they,  too,  had  caught  the 
gold  fever.  Mrs.  Wills  would  be  relieved  of  the  burden  of 
her  sleds  and  her  dogs  cared  for  if  she  would  act  as  cook  for 
the  party.  This  was  a  bargain,  and  it  is  said  that  she  stood 
the  hardships  of  the  journey  "  like  a  man." 

She  made  her  location  on  the  Klondike,  and  filed 
thereon,  and  at  once  set  a  man  at  work,  while  she  returned 
to  Dawson  and  accepted  a  position  with  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company  as  head  cook  at  fifteen  dollars  a  day.  She 
paid  the  same  amount  to  the  men  who  worked  her  claim. 
Thus  she  w^as  able  to  work  the  claim  and  jet  employ  herself 
in  the  more  congenial  occupation.  Later  she  secured  a 
stove,  this  time  one  with  an  oven  that  held  four  bakepans, 
and  again  went  into  the  bakery  business,  and  inside  of  two 
weeks  had  customers  enough  at  one  dollar  a  loaf  to  keep  the 
oven  going  twelve  hours  a  day. 

As  soon  as  all  the  good  claims  were  taken  up  near  Daw- 
son City,  then  the  claim-jumpers  began  to  get  in  their  work. 
Several  attempts  Avere  made  to  get  possession  of  Mrs.  Wills's 
claim,  which  promised  to  pan  out  exceedingly  rich,  but  she 


r.p    ^ 


ENTERPRISING  AND   PROSPEROUS  403 

fought  the  case  and  held  down  her  claim  against  all  comers. 
Finding  that  she  could  not  be  scared  off  it,  offers  to  purchase 
were  tendered,  but  Mrs.  Wills  was  mining  for  what  she 
could  make,  and  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  did  not  swerve  her  from  her  purpose.  She  expects 
that  her  claim  will  pan  out  twice  that  amount.  Meantime 
she  is  making  a  net  profit  of  more  than  fifty  dollars  a  day  in 
her  bakery  and  laundry,  notwithstanding  the  high  price  of 
flour  and  the  fact  that  starch  costs  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  a  box.  She  pays  an  Indian  squaw  who  works  for 
her  four  dollars  a  day,  and  for  the  little  log  cabin  in  which 
the  work  was  done  she  has  to  pay  thirty-five  dollars  a  month. 
Her  fuel  costs  her  over  five  hundred  dollars  a  year,  but  she 
made  money  rapidly  at  this,  while  those  she  hired  to  work 
her  mines  found  the  gold  rapidly.  She  made  twelve  thou- 
sand dollars  from  them  in  a  few  weeks,  and  she  struck  the 
richest  gravel  of  any  in  May,  and  was  making  more  money 
than  ever.  She  is  a  brave,  entei*prising  woman,  who  has 
battled  with  poverty  all  her  life,  and  we  were  glad  she  was 
so  fortunate  at  last.  People  in  a  mining  camp  like  this  are 
not  generally  so  envious  of  each  other's  prosperity  as  they 
sometimes  are  in  ordinary  society. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Klondike  offers  a  great  oppor- 
tunity for  respectable  unmarried  women,  and  it  is  doubtless 
true.  A  good  woman  is  at  a  high  premium  in  that  region, 
and  so  long  as  mines  are  rich,  and  millionaires  are  turned 
out  every  season,  women  who  have  the  courage  to  brave 
such  hardships  as  a  journey  to  Alaska  entails,  and  are  not 
too  particular  about  the  culture  of  the  eligible  men,  may 
marry  a  fortune.  The  fact  is,  however,  that  most  good 
women  are  particular  about  the  men  they  marry.  But 
there  are  in  the  Klondike  some  as  true  specimens  of  man- 


404  A  GOOD  PLACE  FOR  COOKS 

hood  as  can  be  found  anywliere.  They  may  not  appear  so 
in  their  rough  surroundings,  but  there  is  value  in  their 
rugged  natures.  A  respectable  woman  has  nothing  to  fear 
in  the  way  of  insult  in  these  mining  regions.  It  may  seem 
at  times  on  the  trail  that  all  s])irit  of  gallantry  has  been  left 
behind.  Men,  as  a  matter  of  course,  have  too  much  serious 
work  on  hand  in  such  ordeals  to  waste  much  time  in 
helping  women  over  boulders  and  asking  if  they  may  have 
the  honor  of  carrying  their  packages  just  over  the  next  hill, 
but  they  never  take  any  mean  advantage  of  their  weaker  fel- 
low-workers, and  they  allow  full  value  for  the  work  women 
are  better  fitted  to  do  than  men.  The  field  for  cooking  alone 
is  one  of  immense  opportunity  for  women,  and  they  are  not 
slow  to  see  it.  Even  though  a  man  is  willing  to  get  his 
own  meals  after  a  day's  hard  work,  few  of  them  understand 
how  to  prepare  food  in  a  wholesome,  palatable  way.  Good 
nourishing  food  is  what  they  must  have. 

Aside  from  this  there  are  lodging  houses,  and  the  actual 
prospecting  and  mining,  and  washing  and  mending  clothes, 
and  nursing,  and  undoubtedly  women  stand  a  good  chance 
for  success. 

There  will  be  plenty  of  miners  who  will  see  that  a 
woman  is  protected.  An  illustration  of  this,  one  of  the 
thousands  of  dramatic  incidents  of  Klondike  life,  stands 
out  significant  of  the  real  character  of  American  men,  as  a 
race.  Dissension  arose  in  a  party  of  men  and  women,  after 
which  a  division  occurred,  and  some  of  them  decided  to  re- 
turn to  their  homes.  A  man  and  his  wife  who  could  not 
agree  upon  this  point  parted,  and  the  wife  suddenly  found 
herself  the  only  woman  in  a  camp  with  four  hundred  men, 
without  provisions  of  any  sort,  and  no  money.  Some  one 
suggested  that  she  cook  for  them,  so  she  started  bravely  in, 


A  CHANCE   FOR  DRESSMAKERS  405 

and  tliose  men,  recognizing  this  as  an  isolated  case  where 
tliey  coukl  go  out  of  their  way  a  little,  made  her  feel  their 
care  and  protection.  Its  jnst  as  natural  for  men  to  want  to 
be  helpful  to  a  woman  as  it  is  to  breathe,  but  during  the  first 
weeks  of  the  Klondike  excitement  men  felt  hindered  very 
often  trying  to  help  women  along.  They  have  all  they  can 
manage  to"  look  out  for  themselves,  and  when  they  found 
women  going  up  there  to  work  independently,  and  that  they 
did  not  want  men  to  help  them,  the  situation  presented 
itself  in  its  true  light. 

As  the  number  of  women  in  the  city  increased,  several 
began  to  turn  their  attention  to  dressmaking,  which  was 
quite  a  profitable  business.  Five  dollars  was  charged  for 
making  a  common  calico  wrapper  such  as  could  be  put  to- 
gether in  about  three  hours.  The  price  for  making  a  plain 
woolen  dress  was  thirty  dollars,  and  the  dressmakers  had 
to  pay  nothing  for  fashion-plates.  Anything  that  looked 
well  passed  muster. 

Wading  is  an  essential  part  of  a  trip  in  the  Klondike, 
especially  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mines,  and  women  should, 
for  their  own  comfort,  provide  accordingly.  The  head- 
wear  affected  by  women  there  consists  of  close-fitting  hats 
or  caps,  made  necessary  by  the  high  winds.  All  clothing  is 
worn  loosely  to  facilitate  moving  about.  No  corsets  are 
worn;  instead,  a  canvas  waist  has  come  into  general  use. 
To  this  waist  are  buttoned  the  skirts  (if  worn)  and  the  under- 
garments. In  winter  women  generally  wear  fur  hoods  and 
parkas.  On  the  feet  are  worn  "  muck  lucks,"  a  sort  of  boot 
the  foot  of  which  is  made  of  hair  seal-skin. 

A  woman  who  had  some  experience  in  the  Klondike 
says  that  the  venture  means  "  an  extra  and  heroic  effort  for  a 
big  prize,  and  the  harvest  depends,  as  all  harvests  do,  on  the 


•iOG  REQUISITES   OF   A  WOMAN'S  WARDROBE 

amount  of  strength  and  energy  put  into  it.  Therefore,  if 
she  has  the  courage  to  make  the  great  plunge  with  a  possible 
fortune  at  the  end,  in  preference  to  smaller  returns  over  a 
greater  space  of  time  without  extreme  demands  upon  her 
health,  she  will  undoubtedly  want  to  equip  herself  intel- 
ligently. 

"■  First,  then,  the  clothing  is  to  be  considered.  Starting 
in  the  early  spring,  the  following  articles  will  be  absolutely 
indispensable : 

"  Four  combination  suits,  heaviest  quality;  three  pairs 
bloomers;  three  thick  sweaters;  three  short  skirts  (water- 
proof cloth);  one  fur-lined  jacket;  two  pair  wristlets;  four 
pair  woolen  gloves;  four  pairs  heaviest  woolen  blankets;  six 
pair  woolen  stockings ;  two  pairs  rubber  boots,  one  pair  snow 
shoes;  several  yards  netting  (against  the  impertinent  mos- 
quito later  on) ;  two  woolen  night  dresses,  and  don't  forget 
dark-blue  glasses,  vaseline,  and  glycerine,  for  exposure  to 
the  cold  mnds  and  all  the  roughness  of  outdoor  life  will 
play  such  havoc  with  hands  and  faces  that  much  suffering 
can  be  avoided  by  applying  the  last  two  when  retiring  into 
blankets.  There  w'on't  be  any  downy  pillows,  because 
weary  heads  soon  learn  to  sleep  on  bundles. 

"  It  is  much  better  to  carry  Avearing-apparel  in  water- 
proof bags,  as  they  are  easier  to  handle,  and  boxes  are 
heavier  and  take  up  too  much  space.  You  won't  have  a 
bit  good  time  —  but  if  all  your  belongings  are  not  capsized 
—  and  you  are  not  drowned  or  otherwise  killed,  and  you  get 
to  any  real  Avhere  —  my!  won't  you  feel  it  has  paid  for  the 
attempt  —  that  is,  if  you're  a  genuine  new  woman  and  not  a 
mere  new  lady." 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

A  SEASON  OF  WILD  STAMPEDES  — THE  CURIOUS  CON- 
DITIONS ON  SKOOKUM  GULCH  — NEW  WONDERS  IN 
ALASKA  DISTRICT  — MY  NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM 
DEATH. 

Spreading  Out  Over  the  Wild  Country  —  Stampedes  a  Daily  Occur- 
rence —  How  they  were  Started  —  Enterprise  of  an  Exliausted 
Party  —  Returning  from  One  Rush  Only  to  Fall  in  with  Another  — 
The  Astounding  Results  on  Hunker  Creek  —  Sudden  Rise  of  Skoo- 
kum  Gulch  —  How  it  was  Discovered  — Kicking  Over  Boulders 
and  Finding  Gold — Bench  Claims — Strike  on  Dominion  Creek  — 
An  Old  German's  Good  Luck  on  Sulphur  Creek —  Endeavoring  to 
Keep  it  Quiet  —  The  News  Leaks  Out — Another  Great  Stampede — 
Joe  and  I  Conclude  to  See  for  Ourselves  —  A  Misstep  and  a  Drench- 
ing in  Ice  Water — Injured  and  Exhausted  —  A  Blinding  Storm  — 
"Oh,  for  a  Little  Meat" — Joe  Starts  to  Hunt  for  a  Moose — Re- 
turns and  Finds  Me  Helpless — "I  Guess  I'm  Done  For"  —  A 
Long  Night  and  Day  —  Walking  in  a  Circle  —  I  Revive  on  Moose 
Broth  — Staking  a  Claim  Anywhere  —  My  Last  Prospecting  Trip. 

WIIEX  summer  came  there  were  nearly  three  tliou- 
sancl  people  in  and  about  Dawson,  tlie  great 
majority  of  whom  had  come  in  during  tlie  win- 
ter and  spring,  and  who  were  eagerly  waiting  to  make  a 
fortune.  The  class  was  increased  when  work  became  slack 
in  the  mines,  owing  to  the  running  water,  and  also  began  to 
be  increased  by  those  from  adjoining  settlements  who  had 
been  unable  to  reach  the  district  the  season  before,  and  l)y 
the  vanguard  of  that  great  crowd  which  was  soon  to  pour 
in  over  the  passes.     It  is  a  fact  significant  of  the  remotc- 

(407) 


4:08  IN  A   STATE   OF   STAMPEDE 

uess  of  the  country  and  scarcity  of  facilities  for  conimimica- 
tiou  and  transportation,  that  while  all  these  scenes  of  newly- 
discovered  millions  were  being  enacted  at  Dawson,  the  out- 
side world  was  pursuing  its  peaceful  way  in  utter  innocence 
of  Dawson  and  its  mines.  A  few  letters  had  found  their 
way  out,  and  there  were  rumors  along  the  Pacific  coast  of 
the  new  discoveries,  but  they  were  treated  in  the  papers  as 
highly-colored  tales,  and  stuck  into  inconspicuous  places  in 
mining  intelligence.  Juneau  miners  had  heard  a  good  deal, 
however,  and  were  soon  on  their  way  down  the  river. 

But,  of  course,  the  two  creeks  that  were  known  had  long 
been  completely  staked.  The  floating  population,  im- 
patiently waiting  to  grasp  a  fortune,  was  therefore  in  a 
state  of  stampede  all  summer.  The  old  miners,  observing 
the  lay  of  the  land  and  seeing  that  the  Bonanza  had  other 
"  pups  "  which,  while  not  very  inviting  to  the  gold-pros- 
pector, looked  fully  as  much  so  as  the  Eldorado  had  ap- 
peared at  first,  and  seeing  also  that  the  Klondike  and  the  In- 
dian River  just  above  had  numerous  small  tributaries,  whose 
headwaters  seemed  to  center  curiously  around  a  ridge  of 
hills,  in  the  center  of  which  was  a  peak  called  the  Dome, 
had  earl}^  begun  to  spread  out  over  the  country  and  to  probe 
the  ground  under  the  tundra  of  the  banks.  When  they 
found  something  that  looked  promising,  they  returned  to 
Dawson  and  applied  for  a  discovery  claim.  This  was  hap- 
pening all  summer.  No  one  knew  the  value  of  the  dis- 
covery, for  it  was  impossible  to  fully  know  till  the  winter 
had  again  frozen  up  the  streams,  but  it  made  no  difference 
to  the  ever-increasing  crowd  of  feverish  fortune-hunters. 
Stampedes  were  of  daily  occurrence,  and  the  bulk  of  the 
population  was  therefore  kept  in  a  state  bordering  on 
physical  exhaustion. 


HOW    STAMPEDES   ARE    STARTED  409 

Generally,  a  stampede  would  start  about  in  this  way: 
A  man  looking  in  the  recorder's  book  would  see  that  a  claim 
had  been  filed  on  some  new  and  unheard-of  creek.  He 
Avould  give  the  tip  to  a  friend  and  they  would  start  off,  but 
the  friend  would  first  whisper  it  to  another  friend,  and  in  a 
few  hours  the  whole  town  would  know  something  was  hap- 
pening. A  crowd  would  be  quickly  clambering  over  rocks 
and  struggling  through  places  where  there  was  not  even  a 
trail. 

Or,  perhaps,  some  fellow  would  drift  into  a  saloon  with 
a  sack  of  gold,  and  in  the  garrulousness  of  intoxication  would 
confide  to  some  one  that  he  had  found  it  on  such  a  creek  or 
pup,  and  away  the  men  would  rush.  There  were  many 
curious  experiences.  One  day  a  party  left  to  go  sixty  miles 
up  the  river,  but  after  going  about  fifty  miles  they  became 
exhausted  and  turned  back.  On  the  way  back  they  killed 
a  couple  of  moose,  and  each  man's  share  of  the  proceeds 
was  sixty-one  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  While  they  were 
gone  another  stampede  took  place  at  about  ten  o'clock  at 
night.  Several  went  up  the  river  and  staked  claims,  know- 
ing nothing  as  to  their  value,  and  came  back  with  no  gold, 
only  to  fall  in  with  the  next  rush. 

But  the  result  of  all  these  stampedes  was  to  open  up  a 
much  larger  gold-bearing  territory,  which  will  be  heard  from 
in  the  future.  One  of  the  first  and  most  promising  of  these 
discoveries  was  made  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hunker, 
who  gave  his  name  to  the  creek  which  flows  into  the  Klon- 
dike about  ten  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Bonanza,  and 
the  principal  tributaries  of  which  are  Gold  Bottom  and 
Last  Chance  creeks.  Hunker  made  his  discovery  late  in 
the  spring,  and  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  water  and 
the  marshy  character  of  the  soil  little  could  be  done  at  once 


410  MARVELOUS   PAY-STREAKS 

in  (.Irifting,  but  the  rich  results  simply  astounded  those  who 
had  become  used  to  that  sort  of  thing.  The  pay-streak  was 
measured  and  found  to  be  two  hundred  feet  wide.  ]\Iany 
believed  that  the  creek  would  surpass  Eldorado.  A  half 
interest  in  one  claim  was  sold  for  thirty  thousand  dollars. 
On  Gold  Bottom  and  Last  Chance,  pans  of  from  twenty-five 
cents  to  twenty  dollars  were  reported  near  the  surface. 
Bear  Creek,  which  flows  into  the  Klondike  between  Hunker 
and  Bonanza  creeks,  Avas  also  early  prospected  and  staked 
out,  yielding  some  fine  returns  near  the  surface.  Xuggets 
the  size  of  peas  were  brought  down  to  Dawson  from  its 
banks  and  served  to  increase  the  excitement  of  the  new- 
comers. 

The  sudden  rise  of  Skookum  Gulch  was  one  of  the  queer 
incidents  of  the  unfolding  of  this  marvelous  territory.  It 
enters  Bonanza  near  Cormack's  discovery  claim,  but  in  the 
first  rush  it  was  passed  by  as  worthy  of  no  attention.  A 
man  who  had  for  several  years  been  working  a  claim  on 
American  Creek  started  for  the  Klondike  as  soon  as  the 
news  reached  him,  traveling  on  the  ice  with  a  dog  team,  the 
thermometer  ranging  about  sixty  below.  Bonanza  and  El- 
dorado were  all  staked  then,  and  in  March,  after  bringing 
up  his  outfit,  he  formed  a  partnership  and  secured  a  lay  on 
Cormack's  claim.  While  working  there  they  located 
claims  Xos.  1  and  2  on  Skookum  Gulch,'  near  by,  and  at  odd 
times  worked  the  ground.  About  the  middle  of  April  they 
struck  a  pay-streak  at  a  depth  of  about  four  feet,  and  gave 
up  their  lay  at  Cormack's,  where  they  had  cleaned  up  about 
seven  thousand  dollars,  and  went  to  work  on  their  Skookum 
claims.  After  drifting  four  days  they  washed  out  two  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  dollars  of  some  of  the  coarsest  gold  that 
had  been  found  anywhere  in  the  district.      Of  course,  there 


VALUABLE  BENCH  CLAIMS  411 

was  another  stampede.  The  two  discoverers  worked  away 
till  July,  cleaning  np  about  forty  thousand  dollars  in  the 
four  months.  Then  they  sold  out  for  a  big  figure  and  went 
home. 

But  there  were  creek  claims,  that  is,  claims  staked  along 
the  creek  from  rim-rock  to  rim-rock.  The  creek  was  all 
located  by  July,  and  some  of  the  claims  had  been  deserted, 
as  the  surface  indications  were  not  extra,  and  because  of  the 
constant  rush  for  other  new  creeks,  particularly  on  other 
Klondike  streams.  No  one  had  thought  of  bench  claims, 
that  is,  claims  up  on  the  side  of  the  hills. 

Conditions  in  Alaska  and  the  ISTorthwest  Territory  are 
so  very  different  from  those  prevailing  in  the  placer  mining 
regions  of  California  and  other  countries,  that  the  ex- 
perience and  knowledge  of  the  average  old  miner,  gained 
after  years  of  toil  and  hardship,  sometimes  only  mislead 
him. 

This  was  illustrated  in  the  discovery  of  bench  claims  on 
Skookum  Gulch,  when  a  tenderfoot  kicked  over  a  boulder 
and  found  gold  nuggets  sticking  up  under  the  sod.  The 
wildest  excitement  prevailed. 

It  was  found  that  while  many  of  the  old  prospectors  had 
searched  long  and  faithfully  for  the  nuggets  in  the  creek 
bed  and  near  the  center  of  the  stream,  they  had  entirely 
overlooked  the  bench  claims,  which  were  found  to  be  very 
rich.  Some  of  the  claims  on  the  creek  bed  were  carefully 
gone  over,  but  did  not  prove  very  good.  Miners  sunk  shafts 
to  bed-rock  and  toiled  night  and  day  for  the  yellow  metal, 
which  lay  so  plentifully  a  few  rods  further  up  the  hill  away 
from  the  stream.  But  the  saying  that  gold  is  where  you 
find  it  was  again  exemplified.  Thousands  of  people  in  the 
last  year  had  walked  over  the  location  and  never  thought  of 


41X>  NUGGETS  BENEATH  THE  MOSS 

looking  for  gold  there.  Experienced  miners  would  have 
laughed  at  a  man  as  a  fool  for  thinking  that  gold  might  be 
there.  Yet  in  a  few  weeks  about  four  hundred  bench 
claims  were  staked  out. 

Boulders  were  turned  over,  and  there,  lying  exposed 
on  the  gravel,  was  coarse  gold.  The  moss  was  about  twelve 
inches  thick,  and  beneath  it  in  one  day  two  men  picked  up 
eight  hundred  dollars  in  nuggets.  It  was  difficult  to  offer 
a  theory  of  how  the  gold  got  there.  It  was  worn  but  little, 
and  just  below^  in  the  gulch  some  rich  specimens  of  float  were 
found.  Some  good  miners  thought  it  might  be  only  the 
edge  of  a  wonderful  pay-streak  of  quartz,  as  some  quartz 
was  found  adhering  to  the  gold.  When  one  old  miner  saw 
what  was  being  picked  up  under  the  moss,  he  said: 

"  Who'd  ever  thought  of  finding  gold  on  the  surface  of 
such  a  looking  mountain  as  that.  If  science  went  for  any- 
thing, there  wouldn't  be  an  ounce  of  gold  in  the  whole 
mountain.  'No,  sir,  I'm  ready  to  confess  that  I  don't  know 
anything  about  placer  mining,  and  I've  been  at  it,  off  and  on, 
for  years.     These  discoveries  have  been  too  much  for  me." 

The  excitement  was  intense.  Hundreds  of  ounces  were 
taken  out  of  the  rockers  by  the  dazed  miners.  In  half  a 
day  two  men  picked  out  with  a  rocker  five  hundred  and 
eighty-five  dollars  in  coarse  gold. 

Attention  was  early  directed  to  the  creeks  of  the  Indian 
Eiver  district  whose  headwaters  lay  in  the  same  range  of 
hills  in  which  the  rich  streams  of  the  Klondike  took  their 
rise.  Various  stampedes  to  Sulphur,  Dominion,  and  Quartz 
creeks  took  place,  and  by  September  there  was  not  a  claim 
to  be  had,  except  at  large  prices,  on  any  of  these  streams. 
The  strike  on  Dominion  Creek  was  made  on  June  10th  by  a 
man  who  had  been  on  the  Yukon  for  years,  and  the  result 


THE   STAMPEDE  TO   SULPHUR  CREEK  413 

was  one  of  the  wildest  stampedes  of  the  year.  The  miners 
brought  back  many  favorable  reports  and  some  gold  dust. 
Pans  running  as  high  as  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  were 
found  long  before  bed-rock  was  reached.  The  discovery 
claim  was  located  about  three  miles  from  the  head  of  the 
creek,  which  was  soon  staked  for  its  entire  length  of  twenty 
miles. 

Some  of  those  who  arrived  too  late  to  secure  claims  here 
started  to  return  to  Dawson,  and  instead  of  returning  by  the 
Indian  Kiver  went  over  the  hills  towards  the  Yukon.  On 
the  20th  one  of  the  party  came  to  what  is  now  known  as 
Sulphur  Creek,  at  a  point  about  seven  miles  from  the  hill 
that  separates  it  from  Hunker  Creek,  which  flows  into  the 
Klondike.  They  found  good  prospects,  and,  going  into  a 
partnership  arrangement,  sunk  a  shaft.  They  worked 
quietly  without  letting  any  one  know,  but  had  not  pro- 
ceeded far  before  they  found  pans  running  as  high  as  five 
dollars.  Then  they  staked  out  claims  for  themselves  and 
went  to  Dawson  to  record  them.  They  endeavored  to  keep 
it  quiet,  but  in  August  it  leaked  out,  and  there  w^as  another 
stampede,  over  five  hundred  men  crossing  the  rough  moun- 
tain between  Eldorado  and  Dominion  creeks. 

They  had  not  been  working  long  before  pans  running 
over  thirty  dollars  were  found  not  far  below  tlie  surface. 
Two  men  took  out  three  hundred  dollars  one  day  in  simply 
prospecting  their  claims.  The  formation  seemed  to  be 
much  like  that  of  Eldorado  Creek,  which  bears  the  same 
relation  to  Bonanza  that  Sulphur  docs  to  Dominion,  and 
the  process  which  brought  gold  into  one  must  have  brought 
it  into  the  other.  As  these  streams  flowed  into  the  Indian 
River  they  were  in  another  mining  district,  and  so  those 
having  claims  on  the  Klondike  streams  were  at  liberty  to 


414  EXCITED   AND   IMPROVIDENT   MINERS 

stake  on  Dominion  and  Sulpliur.  The  excitement  was  in- 
tense and  continued  for  some  time,  as  new  strikes  were  con- 
stantly reported.  The  old  German  who  located  the  dis- 
covery took  out  thirty  dollars  to  the  pan,  and  in  most  places 
the  water  on  the  creek  was  not  deep,  so  that  the  claims  could 
be  worked  easier  than  those  on  the  Klondike. 

But  many  of  the  locators  either  did  jiot  have  energy  to 
sink  their  prospect  holes,  or  were  too  restless  on  account  of 
the  daily  stampedes  to  other  creeks  to  remain,  and  so  it 
began  to  be  rumored  about  that  Sulphur  Creek  was  of  no 
value.  A  few  of  the  first  locators,  however,  staid  by  it,  and 
they  were  richly  rewarded.  When  the  large  pans  began  to 
be  taken  out,  another  stampede  occurred.  Claims  that  had 
been  abandoned  were  staked  by  other  parties  and  soon  could 
hardly  be  bought  at  any  price. 

About  forty  men  rushed  out  on  this  forty-mile  tramp, 
and  many  of  the  newcoiuers  were  so  excited  and  in  such 
haste  to  find  a  hole  from  which  they  could  take  gold  that 
they  rushed  oif  without  taking  their  blankets  or  enough  to 
eat.  Indeed,  this  was  a  feature  of  all  these  stampedes,  and 
many  came  near  losing  their  lives,  and,  doubtless,  would 
have  done  so  but  for  the  kindness  of  more  provident  pros- 
pectors. 

Indeed,  the  dangers  incuiTed  in  these  wild  scrambles 
over  the  mountains  could  not  be  altogether  avoided  by  those 
who  were  careful  enough  to  make  ample  provisions  for  their 
trip.  Joe  and  I  had  a  rather  narrow  escape  ourselves  dur- 
ing the  fall  excitement  over  the  tributaries  of  Dominion 
Creek.  We  had  not,  as  a  rule,  indulged  in  the  stampedes, 
for  we  were  well  aware  of  their  dangers  and  uncertainties, 
and  aware  also  that  claims  were  being  staked  constantly  by 
those  who  immediately  rushed  off  to  another  localit}',  so  that 


WE   START   OUT   PROSPECTING  415 

if  at  any  time  actual  prospects  should  reveal  any  surpassing 
richness  in  the  new  discoveries  it  would  be  time  enough  to 
rush  in  and  secure  some  of  the  deserted  claims.  But  when 
the  fall  excitement  over  Sulphur  Creek  occurred  we  con- 
cluded to  go  over  the  hills  and  prospect  a  little  thereabout 
for  ourselves.  We  were  at  the  camp  at  that  time,  and  dur- 
ing the  rush  men  had  dropped  their  picks  and  run  from 
wiiidlasses  to  hurry  over  to  the  Indian  River  district.  Joe 
and  I  took  our  time  and  put  in  our  packs  a  good  supply  of 
beans  and  blankets. 

I  had  not  been  feeling  well  for  several  days,  ha\dng 
been  weak  and  sometimes  a  little  feverish.  I  had  at- 
tributed it  to  drinking  poor  water  and  to  the  everlasting 
monotony  of  diet  at  the  camp,  but  I  felt  better  when  we 
started,  and  thought  little  of  it  while  we  plodded  along  over 
the  rough  hillsides  through  the  snow.  All  this  country  is 
so  rugged  that  the  eye  is  startled  at  surveying  it  from  some 
commanding  peak.  Hill  crowding  hill,  mountain  jostling 
mountain,  on  and  on  they  sweep  to  the  uttermost  reach  of 
the  vision. 

Reaching  wliat  we  took  to  be  the  upper  part  of  Sulphur 
Creek,  we  prospected  through  that  region  and  then  started 
to  work  our  way  up  a  gulch  which  looked  as  promising  as 
anything  could  in  that  locality.  I  Avas  struggling  along 
over  a  high  bluff  of  rocks  along  by  the  bed  of  the  stream, 
when  I  made  a  misstep  and  rolled,  pack  and  all,  over  the 
edge  of  the  rocks,  striking  on  a  bit  of  thin  ice  at  the  bottom. 
It  gave  way  and  let  me  into  the  ice-cold  water.  Joe  was 
ahead  and  did  not  miss  me  till  I  shouted.  But  before  he 
could  make  his  way  to  the  bed  of  the  stream  I  had  pulled 
myself  out,  dripping  and  shivering.  My  aid<lc  was  slightly 
sprained,  but  I  minded  that  less  than  the  cold.     We  finally 


41()  A   SICK   MAN  S   FANCIES 

worked  oiir  way  up  to  a  little  eluiup  of  spruces,  where  I 
dropped  down  exhausted  and  half  frozen. 

Joe  liad  a  fire  going  in  a  short  time  and  made  me  a  cup 
of  strong  tea,  but  it  did  little  good,  and  1  grew  worse  and 
worse.  I  was  terribly  w^eak,  but  abhorred  the  sight  of  beans, 
which  Joe  placed  over  the  fire  in  the  hopes  of  reviving  my 
strength.     Oh,  for  a  little  meat!  I  thought. 

The  day  before  we  had  seen  several  moose  tracks  and 
had  even  caught  a  glimpse  of  two  or  three  too  far  away  on 
the  hills  to  shoot,  and,  encumbered  as  we  were,  w^e  did  not 
take  the  trouble  to  follow  them.  As  I  lay  there  on  a  blanket 
on  the  snow  I  felt  as  if  I  would  give  all  the  Klondike  soil  I 
possessed  for  a  bit  of  moose  steak. 

"  Joe,"  I  said,  ''  I  will  watch  the  beans.  Take  the  rifle 
and  see  if  you  cannot  find  a  moose.      I  am  dying  for  meat." 

He  left  me,  working  his  way  off  up  the  gulch,  and  I  lay 
there  watching  the  fire  play  about  the  kettle  of  beans.  The 
wind  shifted  and  blew  the  smoke  straight  towards  me,  but  I 
was  too  weak  to  move  or  to  mind  such  a  trifle.  Then  it  grew 
dark  and  began  to  snow^,  and  I  rapidly  grew  weaker  and 
sicker.  The  fire  began  to  work  into  fantastic  shapes  and 
seemed  to  dance  about  in  the  snow,  then  grow  dim,  then 
blaze  up  in  flaming  fierceness, —  then  all  was  dark. 

The  next  I  knew  I  felt  a  queer  sensation  in  one  of  my 
hands ;  then  I  recognized  Joe's  voice.  He  was  slapping  my 
right  hand  and  shouting  in  my  ears.  Finally  I  opened  my 
eyes.  It  was  dark.  The  fire  was  out.  The  beans  were 
])unit  up.  It  was  snowing  frightfully  and  the  wind  was 
sweeping  through  the  gulch  with  a  dreadful  roar,  which  fell 
on  my  benumbed  ears  like  a  wail  of  despair. 

"  Come,  come,  this'll  never  do,"  I  heard  Joe  say.  "  TTe 
must  get  out  of  this." 


A  NIGHT   IN  THE   SNOW  417 

I  tried  to  raise  myself,  but  fell  back  helpless.  My  ankle 
began  to  pain  me  terribly,  and  then  everything  began  to 
swim  before  my  dull  eyes  again. 

"  No  use,  Joe,"  I  said,  feebly,  "  I  guess  I'm  done  for." 

Having  started  another  fire,  he  soon  brought  me  a  big 
cup  of  hot  strong  tea  and  held  it  while  I  drank  it  slowly  off. 
I  fell  back  and  thought  I  felt  better.  Then  he  an-anged 
some  boughs  over  my  head  and  threw  a  blanket  over  them 
to  protect  me  from  the  wind.  Dragging  more  poles  down 
the  hill,  he  heaped  them  on  the  fire,  which  roared  and  hissed 
almost  at  my  feet.  The  snow  was  flying  so  thick  that  it 
was  impossible  to  see  but  a  little  way  before  us. 

''  I  must  find  a  sled  somewhere,"  said  Joe,  wdien  he  had 
made  these  preparations,  and  soon  I  saw  him  disappear  again 
in  the  blinding  snow.     Then  I  fell  into  a  sort  of  stupor. 

How  like  a  dreadful  panorama  my  short  career  passed 
before  me  as  I  lay  there  during  those  long  dark  hours. 
Was  this  the  end?  There  was  a  comfortable  little  fortune 
stacked  away  in  our  tent  over  in  the  camp,  and  here  I  was 
dying,  as  I  thought,  just  because  of  a  little  misstep.  On 
and  on  dragged  the  hours,  and  Joe  did  not  return.  The 
daylight  broke,  and  still  he  did  not  come.  I  had  become 
very  faint  and  was  almost  too  weak  to  move  a  muscle.  The 
fire  was  dying  into  embers,  and  it  grew  very  cold,  though  it 
had  ceased  to  snow  with  so  much  fury. 

After  a  long  time,  how  long  I  could  not  tell,  I  heard 
shouting,  and,  making  a  great  effort,  raised  my  head  out  of 
the  snow  and  feebly  responded.  In  a  few  minutes  I  saw  a 
dark  form  coming  through  the  snow,  and-  then  I  recognized 
Joe  running  rapidly  towards  me  and  pulling  a  sled. 

"  Xow  you'll  be  all  right,  my  boy,"  he  said.     "  I'm 
mighty  glad  to  find  you  alive." 
25 


418  MOOSE  BROTH  AS   A  TONIC 

Then  he  told  me  the  story  of  his  search.  It  seems  he 
had  started  out  in  the  storm  for  the  purpose  of  making  his 
way  down  to  Sulphur  Creek  far  enough  to  find  some  miners 
M'itli  a  sled.  He  set  off,  as  he  thought,  in  the  right  direc- 
tion and  had  a  hard  tramp  over  the  hills  in  the  dark  and  in 
the  face  of  the  blinding  stonn.  After  walking  till  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  saw  a  light  and  hastened 
forward  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  camp  of  miners.  What 
was  his  surprise  upon  coming  up  to  the  fire  to  find  it  the 
same  one  he  had  built  a  few  hours  before!  I  was  uncon- 
scious. 

He  threw  some  more  wood  on  and  started  out  again. 
At  last  he  came  to  a  sled  track,  and,  after  following  it  for 
nearly  six  miles,  came  upon  two  men  who  had  half  a  moose 
on  a  sled.  In  my  extremity  Joe  had  forgotten  to  eat  any- 
thing and  was  nearly  famished  when  he  came  upon  the 
miners.  They  hurriedly  cooked  him  some  meat,  and  he 
told  them  of  my  danger.  They  told  him  to  take  the  sled, 
and,  cutting  off  a  piece  of  moose  meat,  strapped  it  on,  and 
Joe  started  back  for  me,  running  much  of  the  way.  He  had 
experienced  a  little  difficulty  in  finding  me,  and  about  given 
me  up  for  dead,  when  he  heard  my  feeble  response  to  one  of 
his  cries. 

He  told  me  this  while  he  hurriedly  built  another  fire, 
and  put  the  moose  in  a  kettle  for  a  stew.  That  stew  braced 
me  up  at  once.  Nothing  will  ever  taste  so  good  again  as 
did  that  steaming  moose  broth.  During  the  day  I  began 
to  regain  my  strength,  and  we  started  down  the  creek  to  find 
the  two  benefactors.  At  first  Joe  insisted  upon  my  riding, 
and  he  tugged  away  like  a  hero  over  the  rough  places,  but 
I  began  to  feel  better,  and  the  last  part  of  the  way  hobbled 
along  fairly  well,  resting  occasionally. 


OUR  LAST  TRIP   IN   THE  KLONDIKE  419 

"  We  ought  to  stake  a  claim  somewhere  after  going 
through  all  this,"  I  said  to  Joe  while  we  were  taking  our  first 
rest  near  the  mouth  of  the  gulch,  which  had  not  yet  been 
staked.  We  had  built  a  fire  and  were  about  to  take  a  little 
lunch. 

"  Well,  we  might  as  well  stake  here  as  anywhere,"  he  re- 
plied. "  ISTever  mind  the  indications.  They  don't  count 
in  this  country.  The  only  thing  to  do  is  to  stake  anywhere 
and  trust  to  luck.  It  certainly  looks  better  here  than  on 
Bonanza." 

But  we  finally  Avorked  our  way  down  the  creek  and  took 
the  first  available  claim,  and  after  a  few  days  went  back  to 
our  camp.  That  was  the  last  prospecting  trip  we  made  in 
the  Klondike. 


CHAPTEK  XXX 

STA3IPEDERS  WHO  NEGLECTED  TO  RECORD  CLAIMS  — 
CREEKS  TOO  NUMEROUS  TO  REMEMBER  — POSSI- 
BILITIES OF  OTHER  DISTRICTS  — NEW  GOLD  FIELDS. 

Midnight  Rush  to  Montana  Creek —  Staking  by  Torchlight  —  A  Pugil- 
ist on  Hand  —  Locaters  Rested  after  Their  Journey  —  Their  Stakes 
Stealthily  Removed  and  Others  Substituted  —  The  First  to  Record 
Takes  the  Claim  —  Great  Stampede  to  All  Gold  Creek  — The 
Rush  for  Bryant  Creek — Intended  to  be  Named  for  William  J.  Bryan 
—  Result  of  the  Slip  of  the  Pen  —  Neglecting  to  Record  for  Fear 
Something  Better  Would  be  Found — Tenderfeet  Froz^en  Out  — 
Waiting  Three  Days  to  Reach  the  Gold  Commissioner  —  The 
Country  Staked  for  a  Hundred  Miles  Around  —  Frauds  Perpe- 
trated—  Impossibility  for  the  Officers  to  Measure  Claims  during 
the  Wild  Stampedes  —  Wild  Race  down  the  Frozen  Yukon  to 
Buy  a  Claim  —  Old  Miners'  Belief  in  Stewart  River  —  Gold  Found 
Everywhere  —  Difficulties  of  Prospecting  on  the  Stewart  —  Some 
of  the  Gold-Bearing  Creeks  Which  May  Be  Heard  From  —  In  the 
Same  Belt  as  the  Klondike. 

NO  sooner  had  the  exhausted  gold-seekers  returned 
to  Dawson  from  the  rush  to  Sulphur  Creek  than 
another  took  place  to  Montana  Creek,  a  little 
stream  eighteen  miles  long  entering  the  Yukon  on  the  east 
side  about  eight  miles  south  of  Dawson  and  heading  up 
towards  Eldorado.  It  was  a  dark  and  stormy  night,  the 
air  was  filled  with  a  light  snow,  but  there  was  the  greatest 
excitement,  especially  among  the  new  arrivals.  About  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  joined  in  the  rush,  many  of  them 

(420) 


A   HEADLONG  RUSH  421 

going  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Some  tumbled  into 
boats  and  poled  up  the  river  against  the  strong  current,  and 
others  clambered  over  the  mountain  and  gulches.  Those 
first  on  the  creek  built  fires,  and  by  torchlight  measured  off 
their  claims  and  planted  their  stakes.  A  pugilist  from  the 
Pacific  coast  was  the  second  man  to  locate.  By  midnight 
seven  claims  were  staked  off,  and  then  the  rush  kept  pouring 
in  till  the  whole  creek  was  staked  and  some  were  left  with- 
out places  to  stake.  When  the  men  had  finished  their  sprint 
over  the  trail  or  their  difficult  trip  up  the  river,  they  were 
cold  and  hungry,  and  so  they  camped  as  well  as  they  could 
somewhere  on  the  creek  before  taking  their  way  back. 
Some  of  the  late  arrivals,  noticing  this  delay,  stealthily  re- 
moved stakes  and  put  up  their  own.  Then  they  rushed 
back  to  the  recording  office  in  Dawson,  and,  of  course,  were 
there  long  before  the  original  claimants.  When  the  latter 
arrived  there  was  naturally  considerable  loud  talk  and  some 
threats.  There  was  nothing  to  do,  however,  but  to  accept 
the  situation,  for  the  first  man  who  records  takes  the  ground, 
unless  there  is  a  long  litigation,  Avhich  might  bring  no  satis- 
faction. It  is  as  important  to  be  the  first  to  reach  the  re- 
corder's office  as  it  is  to  be  the  first  to  locate  a  claim. 

The  rush  to  All  Gold  Creek  was  the  largest  of  the  sea- 
son. At  least  five  hundred  men  participated  in  that  and 
endured  the  greatest  hardships.  The  stampede  to  Bryant 
Creek,  which  is  about  nine  miles  up  the  Yukon  from  Daw- 
son, took  place  early  in  September,  The  stream  is  about 
twenty -five  miles  in  length,  and  rises  within  a  few  rods  of  one 
of  tlie  gulches  which  opens  into  Eldorado,  whose  waters 
flow  in  a  different  direction.  Many  of  the  claims  were 
located  at  midnight.  J.  II.  Howell  of  Seattle  was  the 
original  discoverer  of  gold  on  tliis  creek,  and,  desiring  to 


422  THE   SHIFTING   TIDE   OP   FORTUNE 

honor  an  old  sclioolmate  and  friend,  William  J.  Bryan,  tlie 
late  Democratic  candidate  for  President,  he  named  it  Bryan 
Creek,  bnt  the  Canadian  recording  ofHcer,  having  apparently 
never  heard  of  the  jSTebraska  orator,  with  an  npward  stroke 
of  the  pen  added  the  letter  "•  t  "  to  the  word,  and  thns  Mr. 
Bryan  was  deprived  of  another  honor. 

There  were  many  instances  of  the  shifting  tide  of  fortune 
in  the  Klondike  creeks.  All  Gold  Creek  had  been  located 
early  in  the  summer,  and  there  was  the  usual  stampede 
and  failure  on  the  part  of  the  indolent  or  restless  to  find  the 
gold.  Later,  it  was  more  thoroughly  prospected,  and  gave 
evidences  of  being  as  rich  as  some  of  the  more  famous 
streams. 

Late  in  October  news  was  brought  to  Dawson  that  a 
prospecting  party  had  made  a  rich  strike  on  a  little  creek 
flowing  into  the  Yukon  about  two  miles  above.  It  was 
named  Dion  Creek,  from  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  party, 
and  many  of  the  late  newcomers  managed  to  secure  claims 
on  it.  The  gold  was  found  about  two  and  a  half  miles  up, 
and  it  was  reported  that  the  pay-streak  was  about  five  feet 
thick  on  top  of  bed-rock.  Being  close  to  Dawson,  and  on 
the  Yukon,  it  was  especially  attractive,  as  it  could  be  worked 
cheaper.  Very  little  prospecting  was  done  on  it,  however, 
as  most  of  those  who  staked  left  to  attend  to  other  matters, 
so  that  it  was  an  impossibility  to  judge  of  its  richness  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy.  Single  pans  of  dirt  worth  as  high 
as  fifteen  dollars  were  found,  and  the  creek  was  soon  staked 
for  its  whole  length. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December  great  excitement  was 
again  aroused  by  new  strikes  on  Dominion  Creek.  Those 
who  were  at  work  there  were  slowly  thawing  out  the  ground, 
and  it  was  reported  that  on  Iso.  19  below  Discovery  the 


GETTING  LEFT  433 

owners  had  sampled  gravel  at  a  depth  of  six  feet,  or  about 
two  feet  from  bed-rock,  and  had  taken  out  pans  averaging 
five  dollars  each.  As  this  was  better  than  had  been  found 
on  Bonanza  and  Eldorado  at  that  depth,  the  claims  of  the 
Dominion  Creek  district  at  once  jumped  to  an  enormous 
price.  It  was  said  that  seventeen  thousand  dollars  was  re- 
fused for  one  claim  on  Sulphur  creek,  where,  two  months 
before,  claims  could  have  been  bought  for  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars.  The  gold  was  of  good  quality,  even  bet- 
ter than  that  of  Bonanza  and  Eldorado. 

Calder  Creek,  which  heads  up  just  across  the  divide 
from  Eldorado,  and  runs  into  Quartz  Creek  in  the  Indian 
River  district,  was  discovered  in  the  latter  part  of  October, 
and  promised  w^ell.  In  November  not  less  than  fifteen 
claims  were  being  worked  on  it,  the  miners  having  sledded 
across  from  Eldorado. 

During  these  stampedes  some  very  queer  cases  hap- 
pened. Some  miners  would  participate  in  every  rush  and 
stake  out  claims  on  the  new  creeks,  but  they  delayed  in 
recording  them  because  they  could  have  but  one  in  the  dis- 
trict, and  every  one  was  living  in  the  constant  expectation 
that  something  even  better  would  turn  up.  In  this  way 
some  had  staked  a  dozen  different  locations  without  record- 
ing any  of  them.  The  result  was  that  often  a  prospector 
came  along  one  of  the  creeks  with  enterprise  to  sink  a  hole, 
and  would  find  good  pay-dirt.  Tie  would  at  once  record  the 
claim,  and  the  original  staker  would  be  ''  left." 

During  the  last  week  in  August  a  mad  rush  was  made 
to  Moosehide  Creek,  about  eight  miles  north  of  Dawson, 
where  a  prospect  of  seventy-five  cents  to  the  pan  was  re- 
ported. A  number  of  tenderfect  were  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  good  locations,  but  they  forgot,  after  staking  their 


434  UNCERTAINITIES   OF  PROSPECTING 

claims,  to  have  them  recorded.  Their  neglect  soon  became 
kno^vn  in  Dawson,  and  another  rush  took  place,  resulting  in 
the  freezing  out  of  the  original  tenderfeet. 

The  difficulty  in  determining  the  richness  of  any  new  dis- 
trict lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  to  go  to  bed-rock  in 
the  summer.  The  banks  along  the  creeks  are  marshy,  and 
in  many  places  it  seems  necessary  to  sink  the  shaft  in  the 
very  bed  of  the  creek,  so  that  no  prospecting  for  real  values 
can  be  done  till  winter  sets  in. 

Some  idea  of  tlie  uncertain  character  of  prospecting  may 
be  gained  from  the  fact  that  Victoria  Creek,  a  tributary  of 
the  Bonanza,  located  in  the  fall  of  1896  when  the  first  rush 
was  made,  and  practically  deserted,  w^as  again  prospected, 
and  in  June  came  reports  of  big  strikes  on  it.  In  a  short 
time  claims  were  selling  at  good  figures,  but  no  one  seemed 
to  know  whether  they  were  as  rich  as  reported.  The  danger 
that  those  who  had  claims  on  creeks  which  did  not  promise 
well  would  organize  stampedes  so  as  to  sell  off  their  claims  to 
hungry  newcomei-s,  of  course,  always  existed. 

As  a  natural  result  of  all  these  stampedes  and  strikes, 
the  office  of  the  gold  commissioner  was  besieged  con- 
tinually by  men  wishing  to  file  claims.  At  some  of  the 
busiest  times  men  were  compelled  to  keep  their  places  in 
line  for  three  days  before  they  could  ,get  to  the  commis- 
sioner's desk.  Sometimes  the  'thermometer  stood  forty 
below. 

"^Hien  the  people  began  to  pour  into  Dawson  in  the 
spring  of  1897  the  furtherest  claim  staked  was  not  more 
than  twenty  miles  away.  But  by  the  end  of  the  year  the 
country  w^as  staked  for  a  hundred  miles  about,  and  pros- 
pectors were  Avandering  in  the  mountains  further  away 
than  that.     The  tenderfeet  kept  on  locating  dozens  of  creeks 


FRAUDS  OF  THE  STAMPEDERS  425 

further  and  further  away,  till  finally  we  gave  up  trying  to 
keep  track  of  them,  or  even  to  remember  their  names.  The 
gold  commissioner  has  had  a  difficult  undertaking  with  so 
many  new  men,  for  there  seemed  to  be  a  lot  who  came  for 
the  purpose  of  locating  all  the  claims  they  could,  and  after 
winter  set  in  again  they  carried  out  their  purpose,  though 
with  many  hardships  and  privations. 

The  distance  to  these  new  creeks  was  always  great,  the 
weather  intensely  cold,  and  the  stampeders  in  nearly 
every  case  were  forced  to  break  trail  through  two  feet  of 
snow.  Under  these  conditions  it  was  impossible  for  the 
gold  commissioner  to  prevent  stampeders  from  staking  an 
unlimited  number  of  claims  for  friends  and  acquaintances, 
who  afterwards  recorded  them  in  Dawson,  after  first  swear- 
ing that  they  personallj^  staked  the  claims  and  found  gold 
prospects  upon  them.  On  Rosebud  Creek,  the  scene  of  one 
of  the  winter  excitements,  two  men  staked  twenty  claims 
each.  A  man  was  arrested  for  staking  two  claims  on 
Hunker  Creek,  and  a  jeweler  in  Dawson  forfeited  his  min- 
ing rights,  together  with  the  titles  to  four  claims,  for  record- 
ing a  claim  that  had  been  staked  for  him  by  a  stampeder. 

The  gold  commissioner  received  information  that  many 
stampeders  had  staked  and  recorded  more  than  one  claim  in 
each  district.  Under  the  existing  laws,  each  individual 
can  record  but  one  claim  in  a  district.  Owing  to  the 
pressure  of  business  at  the  commissioner's  office  it  was  im- 
possible to  thoroughly  identify  each  applicant  for  a  mining 
claim,  and  this  made  frauds  possible. 

Early  in  December  there  started  from  Dawson  an  ex- 
citing race  for  a  fortune,  perhaps  the  longest  and  most 
unique  that  was  ever  recorded  in  the  history  of  any  mining 
camp  in  the  world.      Two  dog  teams  hurriedly  left  Dawson 


420  A   RACE  FOR   A   FORTUNE 

and  went  flyiiig  down  the  river  over  an  unbroken  trail  of  ice 
to  Circle  City,  a  distance  of  over  three  hundred  miles  to  the 
rim  of  the  Arctic  Circle. 

Fred  Trump  owned  a  half  interest  in  claim  'No.  4G  below 
discovery  on  Hunker  Creek.  Like  many  others,  when  pro- 
visions were  scarce,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  for  Fort 
Yukon,  but  he  got  only  as  far  as  Circle  City.  There  was 
practically  no  grub  to  be  had,  and  he  was  without  funds,  and 
repeatedly  tried  to  sell  the  property  for  two  thousand  dollars. 
Shortly  after  his  departure  from  Dawson,  pay-gravel  run- 
ning five  dollars  to  the  pan  was  struck  on  the  claim  in  which 
he  was  interested.  An  offer  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
the  claim  was  declined,  and  other  properties  adjoining  be- 
came almost  equally  valuable. 

Captain  Guiger  came  up  from  Circle  City  on  December 
4th  and  said  that  Trump  was  vainly  trying  to  sell  his  half 
interest  in  the  claim  for  two  thousand  dollars.  That  night 
at  ten  o'clock  a  well-equipped  dog  team  started  out  over  the 
ribbon  of  broken  ice  to  Circle  City  with  orders  and  gold 
dust  to  purchase  the  claim  at  any  price  under  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars.  At  four  o'clock  the  next  morning  a 
second  team  followed  in  hot  pursuit,  and  Dawson  was  left 
to  wonder  what  the  result  of  the  race  would  be.  When  the 
ice  goes  out  the  world  may  know. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  many  old  miners  late  in  1897  that 
in  a  few  years  the  headquarters  of  the  gold-mining  on  the 
upper  Yukon  would  be  on  the  Stewart  River.  During  the 
latter  part  of  the  season  many  had  worked  their  way  up  the 
river  and  its  tributaries,  and  from  time  to  time  came  re- 
ports of  wonderfully  rich  finds.  It  was,  of  course,  too  far 
away  to  be  verified,  and  too  great  a  distance  for  a  large 
stampede,  but  several  small  parties  left  Dawson  for  the 


A   NEW   FIELD   ON  THE   STEWART  427 

river,  and  as  they  did  not  return  disgusted,  as  the  stani- 
peders  so  often  did,  the  fact  was  generally  regarded  as  con- 
clusive that  they  were  finding  gold  in  large  quantities.  It 
was  calculated  that  as  many  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  were 
wintering  on  the  streams  and  its  creeks,  and  there  is  cer- 
tainly room  there  for  many  thousand. 

Although  the  bars  of  the  Stewart  Eiver  had  been  suc- 
cessfully worked  for  ten  years,  there  had  been  no  real  pros- 
pecting done  on  the  many  important  tributaries  till  last 
year.  Everywhere  that  the  explorers  and  scattering  pros- 
pectors have  gone  on  the  Stewart  and  its  branches  gold  has 
been  found.  On  many  creeks  the  prospects  were  extra 
good.  Several  things  have  conspired  to  leave  this  field 
practically  untouched.  The  question  of  getting  supplies 
in  is  a  very  serious  one.  At  the  same  time,  the  few  hundred 
men  who  have  been  on  the  Yukon  for  several  years  have 
found  sufficiently  attractive  diggings  nearer  to  the  older 
district  and  closer  to  the  supply  bases.  The  Indians  also 
have  a  fear  of  the  natives  of  the  headwaters,  and  cannot  be 
prevailed  to  go  up  the  river  a  great  distance.  Trom 
the  mouth  of  Stewart  River  to  Mount  Jesus  on  the  north 
fork  the  distance  is  estimated  at  four  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  and  to  the  head  of  this  fork  in  the  vicinity  of  five  hun- 
dred miles  in  all.  The  south  fork  is  practically  unexplored, 
only  one  or  two  parties  having  been  on  it,  and  then  not  for 
a  sufiicient  distance  to  determine  its  character  or  length. 
The  prospectors  and  those  who  have  been  on  the  river  say 
that  it  carries  a  larger  body  of  water  than  Polly  River,  and 
is  beyond  doubt  the  second  largest  feeder  of  the  Yukon. 

The  first  gold  discoveries  there  were  made  in  1885  on 
bars  within  about  one  hundred  miles  from  the  month. 
These  were  rich.     During  the  fall,  in  less  tlian  fifty  days 


438  OTHER   GOLD-BEARING  STREAMS 

time,  as  high  as  six  thousand  dollars  to  the  man  was  rocked 
out.  In  1886  fully  a  hundred  men  were  working  on  the 
river  bars  with  good  success.  Some  went  up  the  north  fork 
nearly  to  its  head.  Each  succeeding  season  the  bars  have 
been  worked  until  they  failed  to  pay  the  high  wages. 

The  Stewart  empties  into  the  Yukon  about  seventy 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike.  From  its  mouth  to 
the  forks  is  about  two  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  and  the 
north  fork  extends  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  further 
on.  A  trifle  over  two  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth  the 
Frazer  Falls  make  an  insurmountable  bar  to  possible  steam- 
boat navigation.  They  make  a  fall  of  thirty  feet  in  a  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  are  not  over 
seventy-five  feet  in  width.  Here  a  portage  of  about  half  a 
mile  must  be  made.  From  there  on  rapids  are  encountered 
for  about  six  miles.  But  these  can  be  poled  and  lined  over 
without  great  difficulty. 

Among  the  tributaries  upon  which  gold  has  now  been 
found  is  Kosebud  Creek,  about  forty  miles  up  on  the  south 
bank.  Xo  prospecting  has  been  done  to  any  extent.  Lake 
Creek,  about  sixty-five  miles  up,  has  shown  gold  on  its  bars, 
but  no  work  has  been  done.  lIcQuesten  River  is  much 
larger  than  any  of  these  creeks,  and  several  good  bars  have 
been  worked  on  it,  some  of  them  paying  as  high  as  fifty  dol- 
lars per  day  with  rockers.  Some  work  has  been  done  on  the 
side  creeks  emptying  into  the  McQuesten.  The  McQuesten 
is  supposed  to  head  close  to  Beaver  River,  which  is  the 
largest  branch  of  the  north  fork  of  the  Stewart.  Forty 
miles  further  up  on  the  south  side  is  Crooked  Creek,  upon 
which  gold  has  been  found  in  small  quantities,  but  only  sur- 
face work  has  been  done  on  it.  Mayo  Creek  comes  in  on 
the  northern  bank  about  forty  miles  above  Crooked  Creek. 


ALASKA   A   QUEER   COUNTRY  439 

About  six  miles  up  there  is  a  canon  which  extends  for  six 
miles,  and  through  which  it  is  impossible  to  take  a  boat. 
Two  boats  were  carried  around  it  in  1894,  and  the  stream 
was  traversed  for  about  seventy-five  miles.  More  or  less 
gold  was  found  on  the  bars  all  along.  In  the  caiion  coarse 
gold  was  found  in  several  places.  As  high  as  ten  cents  a 
pan  was  found  on  the  surface. 

Much  of  the  Stewart  Eiver  lies  in  the  same  belt  as  the 
gold-bearing  regions  of  the  Klondike,  and  that  there  is  gold 
there  cannot  be  doubted.  The  difficulty  is  in  getting  to  it. 
It  is  necessary  to  take  a  full  year's  outfit  to  prospect  on  the 
upper  waters.  Owing  to  the  distance  prospectors  have  had 
to  spend  the  best  part  of  their  time  in  bringing  up  their  out- 
fits. By  the  time  a  man  has  poled  from  Forty  Mile  or 
Dawson  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  from  there  a  hun- 
dred miles  to  the  McQuesten,  the  summer  season  is  past, 
and  he  must  have  winter  provisions  or  hurry  back.  Miners 
have  not  felt  that  they  could  afford  to  do  this  so  long  as 
there  were  good  paying  mines  near  Forty  Mile  on  the  Klon- 
dike, and  the  recent  prospects  on  the  stream  come  from 
those  who  have  been  led  by  the  wonderful  Klondike  placers 
to  look  more  carefully  into  all  this  region.  To  the  old 
miner,  acquainted  with  the  general  rules  of  indications  of 
gold,  the  Stewart  would  look  much  more  promising  than 
the  Klondike,  but  it  is  unsafe  to  apply  to  Alaska  any  rules 
that  hold  elsewhere  in  the  world.  It  is  a  queer  country, 
and  Avhen  the  thousands  who  have  now  rushed  in  have 
poked  around  in  the  hills  for  a  time  we  shall  know  a  great 
many  new  things  —  that  is,  if  the  peoplp  who  are  doing  the 
poking  do  not  die  in  the  attempt. 

These  gold  fields  can  be  developed  but  slowly.  Ten 
thousand  men  can  come  here  and  be  lost  in  the  great  ter- 


430  WEALTH   PAST   COMPREHENSION 

ritorj  wlicn  they  scatter  to  prospect.  A  few  of  them  will 
strike  a  mine  and  become  rich.  When  they  do  strike  pay- 
dirt  their  fortunes  will  be  made.  In  years  to  come,  after 
an  awful  sacrifice  of  human  life  and  energy,  when  the  treas- 
ures of  this  great  land  are  located,  its  wealth  will  be  some- 
thing beyond  our  present  comprehension. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  KLONDIKE  — CHARACTER- 
ISTICS OF  THE  CANADIAN  MOUNTED  POLICE  — 
CANADIAN  REGULATIONS  — THE  MAILS  THROWN 
AWAY  ON  THE  TRAIL  — A  QUESTION  OF  LIFE  OR 
DEATH. 

Attention  Paid  the  Yukon  District  by  Canadian  Government  after 
Gold  Discoveries  —  Concerned  Over  Loss  of  Revenue  —  Detach- 
ment of  Police  Sent  In  —  When  the  Organization  vpas  Formed  — 
Its  Principal  Features  —  Officers  and  Constables  —  The  Yukon 
Territory  —  Powers  of  the  Gold  Commissioner  —  His  Word  Final 
in  All  Cases  as  to  Claims  —  Experience  of  a  Seattle  Man  —  How  a 
Double  Sale  was  Quickly  Untangled  —  Government  Rights  over 
the  Yukon  Region  —  The  Proposed  Royalty  —  Indignation  of  the 
Miners  —  A  Meeting  and  a  Protest  —  Possibilities  of  Trouble  — 
Uncertainty  of  the  Mails  —  Difficulties  of  a  Carrier  —  Mail  Matter 
Taken  by  Returning  Miners  and  Thrown  Away  on  the  Trail  —  A 
Matter  of  Life  or  Death. 

THE  Klondike  region,  being  in  the  Xorthwest  Ter- 
ritory, is  subject  to  the  laws  of  Canada,  but  it  was 
not  till  after  pioneers  from  the  United  States  began 
to  find  gold  about  the  boundary  line  that  the  Ottawa  govern- 
ment paid  much  attention  to  the  country.  The  hardy 
miners  who  first  prospected  up  and  down  the  streams,  suf- 
fering great  hardships,  had  secured  their  supplies  from  trad- 
ing companies  navigating  the  Yukon,  and  when,  by  1894, 
it  began  to  appear  that  considerable  gold  was  being  found, 
and  that  much  merchandise  was  being  taken  into  the  Xorth- 

(431) 


Vo'Z  MOUNTED   POLICE   SUPERVISION 

west  Territory  free  of  duty,  the  Ottawa  government  thouglit 
"  that  the  time  had  arrived  to  make  more  efficient  provision 
for  the  maintenance  of  order,  the  enforcement  of  the  laws, 
and  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  Yukon  country, 
especially  in  that  section  of  it  in  which  placer-mining  for 
gold  is  being  prosecuted  upon  such  an  extensive  scale." 

It  was  evident  that  the  Dominion  government  viewed 
with  considerable  concern  the  loss  of  revenue  or  duty  upon 
the  provisions  which  were  taken  to  the  pioneers  with  so 
much  difficulty  and  expense.  Accordingly,  a  detachment 
of  twenty  members  of  the  mounted  police  force  was  detailed 
for  service  along  the  upper  Yukon.  The  officer  in  com- 
mand, Inspector  Constantine,  in  addition  to  the  magisterial 
duties  which  he  was  required  to  perform,  was  authorized 
to  represent,  when  necessary,  all  the  departments  of  the 
Canadian  government  having  interests  in  that  region.  His 
instructions  particularly  authorized  him  to  perform  the 
duties  of  Dominion  land  agent,  ^collector  of  customs,  and 
collector  of  inland  revenue.  Later,  Mr.  Thomas  Fawoett 
was  appointed  gold  commissioner,  surveyor,  and  general 
agent  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  for  the  district.  It 
was  thus,  after  Americans  in  the  course  of  their  difficult 
and  generally  unremunerative  prospecting  throughout  the 
region  had  found  gold,  that  the  Canadian  officials  awoke 
to  the  necessity  of  sending  in  the  machinery  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  motive  of  the  Canadian 
government  in  sending  in  agents  to  the  new  district,  it  must 
be  said  to  her  credit  that  she  has  sent  good  ones,  and  that 
the  supervision  of  the  mounted  police  has  given  the  people 
of  the  Klondike  a  sense  of  security  which  is  not  nsually  en- 
joyed in  new  raining  camps,  especialh'  when  so  far  removed 


THE   MOUNTED   POLICE  433 

from  the  centers  of  civilization.  Their  scarlet  nniform  is 
the  symbol  of  law  and  order  in  the  Northwest. 

The  force  was  organized  when  Alexander  Mackenzie 
was  Premier,  and  was  one  of  Sir  John  Macdonald's  inspira- 
tions. After  his  return  to  power  in  1878  it  always  re- 
mained under  his  own  eye.  The  nucleus  of  the  force  was 
got  together  at  Manitoba  in  1873.  It  originally  numbered 
only  three  hundred,  but  by  its  coolness  and  pluck  at  critical 
periods  it  accomplished  much  by  reducing  the  Indians  and 
lawless  whisky  traders  to  a  stat>e  of  order.  The  police  built 
posts  and  protected  white  settlers,  and  the  surveyors  who 
had  already  began  parcelling  out  the  country  and  exploring 
the  route  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway.  In  1877 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  little  force  was  concentrated  on  the 
southwesteni  frontier  to  watch  and  check  the  six  thousand 
Sioux  wdio  sought  refuge  in  Canada  after  their  defeat  and 
massacre  of  Custer  and  his  command  on  the  Little  Big 
Horn. 

It  was  through  the  efforts  of  the  mounted  police  that 
the  Sioux  were  finally  induced  to  surrender  peacefully  to 
the  United  States  authorities  in  1880  to  1881.  After  the 
outbreak  of  the  half-breeds  under  Louis  Riel  in  1885,  the 
force  was  increased  to  one  thousand  men,  their  present 
number. 

Like  the  Eoyal  Irish  Constabulary,  on  which  it  was 
modelled,  the  mounted  police  is,  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  a 
purely  civil  body.  Its  officers  are  magistrates,  the  men  are 
constables.  But  so  far  as  circumstances  will  allow,  its  or- 
ganization, internal  economy,  and  drill  are  those  of  a  cavalry 
regiment,  and  when  on  active  service  in  a  military  capacity 
the  officers  have  army  rank.  The  afi'airs  of  the  force  are 
managed  by  a  distinct  department  of  the  Canadian  govoru- 
26' 


434  ITS   OFFICERS   AND  RECKUITS 

incnt,  under  the  supervision  of  a  cabinet  minister.  The 
executive  command  is  held  by  an  officer  styled  the  commis- 
sioner and  ranking  as  lieutenant-colonel.  The  assistant 
commissioner  ranks  as  a  major,  and,  after  three  years  ser- 
vice, as  a  lieutenant-colonel.  Ten  superintendents  with 
captain's  rank  command  the  divisions,  with  about  thirty-five 
inspectors  as  subalterns  who  correspond  to  lieutenants. 
The  medical  staff  consists  of  a  surgeon,  five  assistant  sur- 
geons, and  two  veterinary  surgeons.  The  non-commis- 
sioned officers  are  as  in  our  army,  while  the  troopers  are 
called  constables. 

The  rank  and  file  are  not  excelled  by  any  picked  corps 
in  any  service.  A  recruit  must  be  between  twenty-two  and 
forty-five  years  old,  of  good  character,  able  to  read  and  to 
write  English  or  French,  active,  well  built,  and  of  sound 
constitution.  Their  physique  is  very  fine,  the  average  of 
the  whole  thousand  being  five  feet  nine  and  a  half  inches  in 
height,  and  thirty-eight  and  a  half  inches  around  the  chest. 

There  has  always  been  an  unusual  proportion  of  men  of 
good  family  and  of  education  in  the  service.  Lots  of  young 
Englishmen  who  came  out  to  try  their  hand  at  farming  in 
the  far  west  have  drifted  into  the  police,  as  bave  also  well- 
connected  Canadians.  Waifs  and  strays  from  ever^'^where, 
and  of  every  calling,  are  to  be  found  in  the  ranks.  The  roll- 
call  would  show  defaulters  if  no  man  answered  to  any  name 
but  his  own.  There  is  at  least  one  lord  in  the  force,  and 
many  university  graduates.  As  a  rule  they  are  men  who 
get  along  well  with  the  miners.  They  experience  much 
the  same  hardships  in  winter,  and  they  like  to  see  fair  play, 
but  they  are  stern  in  camming  out  the  law  of  the  land. 

The  Yukon  Territory,  so  designated  by  Canada  for  the 
purpose  of  government,  is  about  one-half  as  large  as  Alaska, 


GOVERNMENT   OF  THE  YUKON  TERRITORY  437 

and  extends  from  British  Columbia  on  the  south  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean  on  the  north,  and  from  the  one  hundred  and 
sixty-first  meridian  on  the  west  to  the  mountains  eastward 
separating  the  watershed  of  the  Mackenzie  from  that  of  the 
Yukon.  The  chief  official  is  known  as  the  Commissioner 
of  the  Ten-itory,  and  all  the  officials,  with  the  exception  of 
the  judge  of  the  court,  may  be  suspended  by  him  for  cause. 
The  police  is  under  his  orders,  and  he  is  given  ample  author- 
ity to  meet  any  emergency  that  may  arise  without  waiting 
to  hear  from  Ottawa.  The  judge  is  sent  to  administer  the 
ordinary  laws  of  the  territory.  Besides  the  gold  commis- 
sioner there  is  a  registrar  of  the  land  district,  a  lawyer, 
whose  duties  combine  the  clerkship  of  the  court  and  the 
registration  of  titles,  four  land  surveyors  acting  under  the 
gold  commissioner,  and  a  number  of  custom  offieere  sta- 
tioned at  various  points  along  the  line  of  entry  into  the 
district.  The  mounted  police  force  on  the  Yukon  was  but 
a  hundred  at  first,  but  has  been  increased  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty,  stationed  along  the  trails  and  at  Yukon  centers. 

But  a  small  part  of  the  machinery  of  government  was 
on  hand  during  the  first  year  of  the  Klondike  excitement. 
Some  of  the  higher  officials  did  not  start  until  late  in  1897, 
and  during  the  winter  were  tied  up  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big 
Salmon  River,  unable  to  proceed  to  Dawson.  Meanwhile 
authority  was  vested  in  the  inspector  of  police  and  the  gold 
commissioner.  The  power  of  the  latter  to  settle  all  dis- 
putes as  to  claims  is  absolute.  He  listens  to  cases  involving 
ownership  to  gold  claims,  and  renders  his  decisions 
promptly.  If  there  has  not  been  some  mistake  in  reports, 
his  decision  is  final.  And  the  adjustment  tlmi  lie  an- 
nounces becomes  the  law  by  which  all  interested  parlies 
must  abide. 


438  THE   WAY   A  SNARL   WAS   UNTANGLED 

A  single  case  will  illustrate.  Michael  Kcllv,  a  Avell- 
knoAvn  pioneer,  went  to  the  Klondike  with  his  son.  Father 
and  son  located  several  claims  on  different- creeks  with  the 
understanding  that  they  would  share  the  proceeds  equally. 
The  elder  Kelly  decided  to  return  to  Seattle  early  in  1897, 
and  left  his  son  on  the  claim  last  located.  At  that  time  the 
Klondike  was  not  knowni  to  be  a  bed  of  glittering  gold. 

Kelly  was  anxious  to  return  to  the  gold  fields,  but  de- 
sired to  raise  money  in  order  to  leave  his  family  in  comfort- 
able circumstances.  He  met  a  man  by  the  name  of  Craw- 
ford and  proposed  to  sell  him  a  half  interest  in  his  claim  for 
one  thousand  dollars.  Crawford  mortgaged  his  property, 
disposed  of  his  jewelry,  and,  by  taking  some  friends  in  with 
him,  secured  enough  money  to  pay  Kelly  the  one  thousand 
dollars.  Crawford  went  to  the  Klondike  in  the  spring,  and, 
to  his  dismay,  found  that  young  Kelly,  not  knowing  what 
his  father  had  done,  had  sold  the  Bonanza  claim  to  an  Eng- 
lish syndicate  for  ten  thousand  dollars. 

When  the'elder  Kelly  learned  what  had  taken  place,  he 
said  that  Crawford  had  made  his  purchase  in  good  faith  and 
that  his  rights  must  be  protected.  The  affair  was  referred 
to  the  gold  commissioner,  who  decided  that  Crawford  and 
his  associates  were  to  have  half  of  the  claim,  but  that  they 
must  pay  to  the  English  syndicate  one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars  out  of  the  first  clean-up,  while  the  Kellys 
should  return  to  the  English  syndicate  five  thousand  dol- 
lars, or  half  the  original  purchase  price. 

This  decision  was  accepted  by  all  parties  w^ithout  a 
murmur,  and  a  tangle  was  settled  in  a  day  that  in  the 
United  States  would  have  been  a  source  of  endless  litigation. 
Miners  said  that  Crawford's  claim  was  worth  between  one 
hundred  thousand  and  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 


A  ROYALTY   PROPOSED  439 

It  should  be  iniderstood  that  all  the  territory  in  these  re- 
gions constitute  what  are  known  as  crown  lands,  the  govern- 
ment having  the  right  to  reserve  it  all  from  pre-emption  for 
any  purpose.  The  reservation  of  gold-bearing  lands  is 
simply  a  partial  exercise  of  the  right  of  the  crown  to  ex- 
clusive domain,  and  the  British  government  has  always 
claimed  that  gold  and  silver  were  royal  metals,  and  has 
claimed  the  right  to  draw  royalty  from  such  metals.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  the  government  heard  of  the  rich  dis- 
coveries on  the  Klondike,  steps  were  taken  to  reduce  the 
length  of  the  claims  to'  one  hundred  feet,  and  to  exact  a 
heavy  royalty.  At  first  it  was  proposed  to  make  this  royalty 
twenty  per  cent,  and  to  reserve  every  alternate  claim  for  the 
government  to  dispose  of  in  any  way  it  saw  fit.  It  would 
have  the  right  to  work  them  for  the  crown  if  it  chose,  and 
the  government  would  be  in  a  position  thus  to  draw  rich 
revenue  as  a  result  of  the  long  searches  and  many  hardships 
of  the  pioneers  of  the  country. 

When  the  intention  of  the  Dominion  government  be- 
came known  in  Dawson,  there  was  great  indignation  among 
the  miners,  Canadians  as  well  as  Americans.  A  meeting 
was  held  on  the  street,  and  it  was  evident  that  any  attempt 
to  enforce  such  a  law  would  either  amount  to  nothing  or 
else  the  development  of  the  mines  would  stop. 

"  What  inducement  is  there  for  us,"  said  one  miner, 
"'  to  endure  all  the  hardships  and  expense  of  mining  in  this 
country,  if,  after  we  have  found  gold,  the  governniont  steps 
up  and  takes  a  fifth  of  what  we  dig,  and,  above  that,  takes 
one-half  of  the  claims?  Many  of  us  have  been  enduring 
hardships  here  for  years,  and  until  now  have  scarcely  made 
more  than  enough  to  provide  ourselves  with  provisions. 
ISTow,  when  we  have  found  something  worth  developing  in 


440  FORCEFUL  WORDS 

this  frozen  region,  Canada  talks  of  keeping  the  best  half  for 
herself  while  we  do  the  work.     I  guess  not." 

The  Canadian  officials  on  the  spot  seemed  to  sympathize 
with  the  sentiments  of  the  miners,  but  they  said  they  should 
strictly  enforce  whatever  became  the  law.  A  protest  was 
drawn  up  and  a  committee  appointed  to  proceed  to  Ottawa 
and  present  the  case  of  the  miners.  In  their  protest,  which 
was  a  long  docuitient  worded  with  skill  and  force,  they 
claimed  that  the  value  of  the  placers  had  been  exaggerated, 
and  many  claims  would  not  be  profitable  if  such  a  tax  were 
imposed,  the  rate  of  wages  and  the  cost  of  provisions  being 
so  necessarily  high. 

"  This,"  they  said,  "  is  a  land  of  tremendous  solitudes 
and  marvelous  wildness.  It  appears  to  be  a  land  of  im- 
mense promise  to  the  prospector,  but  the  appearance  may 
be  deceptive.  It  is  outside  the  range  of  language  to  picture 
the  trials  that  encompass  the  explorer  who  goes  forth  here 
with  pick,  shovel,  and  gold-pan  to  search  for  gold.  Only 
strong  men  are  equal  to  the  task,  and  only  men  of  great 
courage  and  perseverance  can  press  far.  If  the  government 
place  a  heavy  hand  on  the  prospectors,  already  almost  fren- 
zied Avith  toil  and  privation,  prospecting  in  this  district  will 
be  abandoned  by  the  majority,  and  prospectors  will  turn 
toward  other  gold  fields.  This  is  not-  a  threat;  it  is  a  con- 
dition." 

It  was  pointed  out  that  if  the  government  reserved  every 
alternate  claim  of  one  hundred  feet  it  would  be  impossible 
to  co-operate  along  the  creeks  for  building  dams  for  sluicing 
without  trespassing  on  government  claims,  and  if  the 
government  should  sell  its  claims  it  would  simply  mean  that 
the  old  minei-s  who  had  found  the  mines  and  suffered  all 
manner  of  privations  would  be  crowded  out  by  capital, 


EXPENSIVE  RESTRICTIONS  441 

which  would  reap  the  profit  without  having  heen  forced  to 
undergo  the  hardships. 

But  the  temptation  to  reap  a  large  revenue  was  too  great 
for  the  Ottawa  government.  Besides,  it  was  a  source  of  no 
little  chagrin  to  many  Canadians  to  see  the  gold  worked  out 
of  British  soil  l\y  Americans  to  be  carried  down  the  coast 
and  into  the  mints  of  the  United  States  instead  of  those  of 
Canada.  This  was  natural.  Doubtless  the  people  of  the 
United  States  would  have  felt  in  much  the  same  way  had 
the  conditions  been  reversed,  although  no  restrictions  what- 
ever had  ever  been  placed  on  Canadians  mining  on  Birch 
Creek  and  in  other  portions  of  Alaska.  The  Canadian 
government  did  not  wish  to  impose  so  heavy  a  tax  as  to  put 
an  end  to  the  development  of  the  country,  but  it  evidently 
intended  to  impose  all  that  seemed  possible  of  endurance. 
So  during  the  early  part  of  1898  the  laws  were  modified  to 
some  extent.  The  length  of  claims  to  be  thereafter  al- 
lowed was  to  be  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  a  royalty  of  ten 
per  cent,  should  be  levied  and  collected  on  the  gross  output 
of  each  claim,  and  every  alternate  ten  claims  should  be  re- 
served for  the  Canadian  government.  These  are  the  main 
features  of  the  restrictions  which  the  government  propose 
to  begin  enforcing  with  the  spring  of  1898.  How  success- 
ful it  will  be  remains  to  be  seen. 

It  will  be  observed  that  these  regulations  add  greatly  to 
the  expense  of  mining  on  Canadian  territory.  In  the  first 
place,  in  order  to  prospect  at  all,  a  man  must  secure  a  free 
miner's  certificate,  which  costs  him  ten  dollars  a  year,  and 
if  for  any  reason  he  fails  to  renew  it  promptly  he  shall  for- 
feit all  rights  to  whatever  claims  he  has.  When  he  stakes 
off  a  claim  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  along  a  creek  he 
must  at  once  have  it  recorded,  and  that  costs  him  fifteen  dol- 


443  THE  NATURAL  RESULT 

lars.  To  Avork  it  Juriiiii'  tlie  winter  he  must  pay  something 
like  a  thousand  dollars  for  provisions  by  the  time  they  have 
reached  the  camp.  His  fuel  will  cost  him  at  least  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  timber  and  appliances  for  sluicing  as  much 
more.  To  work  his  claim  successfully  he  must  pay  at  least 
ten  dollars  a  day  for  all  help.  If  he  hires  two  men  his  ex- 
penses under  this  head  are  not  likely  to  be  less  than  four 
thousand  dollars.  Supposing  in  the  spring  he  is  so  for- 
tunate as  to  clean  up  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  Canadian 
government  takes  a  thousand  of  it,  and  his  expenses  have 
used  up  at  least  six  thousand.  He  might,  therefore,  be  so 
fortunate  as  to  save  three  thousand  for  himself,  a  sum  which 
would  not  much  more  than  provide  for  his  necessities  for 
another  year.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  placers  must 
be  very  rich,  and  must  be  worked  on  a  large  and  economical 
scale  to  meet  such  restrictions  and  expenditures. 

The  natural  result  will  be  to  stimulate  the  search  for 
gold  placers  on  American  soil,  and  if  any  at  all  comparable 
with  those  in  the  Klondike  are  found,  the  Klondike  will 
be  deserted  in  a  twinkling,  by  Canadians  as  well  as  Ameri- 
cans. If  paying  mines  are  not  found  elsewhere,  and  the 
Klondike  region  continues  to  disclose  new  riches,  the  re- 
strictions which  Canada  has  imposed  may  lead  to  difficul- 
ties. Of  one  thing  we  may  be  sure ;  the  laws,  whatever  they 
are,  will  be  enforced.  If  a  royalty  is  demanded  it  will  have 
to  be  paid,  and  whatever  customs  duties  are  levied  upon  sup- 
plies brought  into  the  country  will  have  to  be  paid.  The 
police  will  see  that  the  law  is  carried  out,  even  though  they 
consider  it  unjust. 

One  might  think  that  a  handful  of  police  could  do  very 
little  with  the  thousands  of  miners  who  within  a  year  will 
be  scattered  all  through  the  hills  about  Dawson,  and  that 


UNCERTAINTIES   OP  THE  MAIL  SERVICE  443 

if  these  people  took  it  into  their  heads  to  regulate  mining 
there  to  suit  themselves,  Canada  could  do  little  to  prevent  it. 
But  while  there  may  be  dangers  in  such  a  possibility,  they 
are  not  great.  The  country  is  of  such  a  nature  that  a  few 
police  can  hold  all  the  points  at  which  gold  must  pass  in 
going  out  of  the  country.  But  what  is  of  more  importance, 
the  people  who  are  there  recognize  the  advantages  of  police 
protection  in  maintaining  their  rights  against  each  other. 

If  any  one  is  looking  for  a  strong  illustration  of  the  un- 
certainties of  existence  in  this  world,  he  can  find  nothing 
better  than  the  mail  service  on  the  Yukon.  Some  realiza- 
tion of  its  efficiency  can  be  derived  from  the  fact  that  gold 
was  discovered  on  the  Klondike  creeks  in  August,  1896,  and 
that  it  was  not  till  the  middle  of  July,  1897,  that  the  world 
knew  about  it.  It  did  not  learn  of  it  then  through  the  mails, 
but  because  a  dozen  or  more  men  who  had  meanwhile  be- 
come millionaires,  or  something  approaching  millionaires, 
walked  oif  a  ship  just  in  from  St.  Michael  with  several  hun- 
dred pounds  of  gold  dust.  Yet  there  was  supposed  to  have 
been  a  mail  service. 

In  1896  the  United  States  made  a  contract  for  can-ying 
the  mails  between  Juneau  and  Circle  City,  and  in  writing 
to  the  postmaster-general  in  the  fall  of  that  year  concerning 
his  first  round  trip,  one  contractor  said  that  he  had  started 
from  Juneau  on  June  10th.  He  took  along  lumber  for 
building  a  boat,  but  after  the  Indians  had  packed  it  to  the 
foot  of  the  summit  and  taken  nearly  seventy  dollars  for  it, 
they  refused  to  carry  it  further,  and  so  he  had  to  leave  it 
there  and  build  a  raft  at  Lake  Lindeman.  Keaching  Lake 
Bennett,  he  built  a  boat,  and  finally  reached  Circlf>  Cily. 
But  he  found  he  could  not  undertake  to  pole  up  the  rivci- 
alone  on  a  return  trip,  and  so  he  came  out  l)y  (lie  way  of  Si. 


444  LETTERS  SACRIFICED   IN  AN  EMERGENCY 

Michael.  It  cost  something  like  six  hundred  dollars  to 
make  the  trip,  and  some  of  the  contractors  threw  up  their 
contracts. 

When  Dawson  was  established  there  was  no  way  to  re- 
ceive or  send  mail  except  by  those  who  happened  to  be 
going  in  or  out.  Whoever  wished  to  send  a  letter  would 
pay  from  one  to  two  dollars  to  one  starting  out  over  the 
passes,  but  who  gave  no  guarantee  that  the  lettei's  w^ould 
be  delivered  or  mailed  in  the  United  States.  Indeed,  it  was 
always  understood  that  if  emergency  came,  the  letters  woidd 
hare  to  be  thro^ra  away.  Any  one  who  goes  over  the  trail 
will  find  in  many  places  bits  of  paper,  evidently  the  frag- 
ments of  letters  which  had  been  sent  out  in  the  hands  of  some 
one  who  could  carry  them  no  further,  and  so  tore  them  up. 

Of  course,  there  are  many  miners  around  Dawson  who 
never  expect  to  hear  from  home,  and  these  men  will  never 
loiow  whether  their  friends  or  relatives  ever  received  letters 
sent  them.  The  missives  are  started  in  good  faith,  and  the 
man  going  out  agrees  to  put  them  in  the  post-office,  but 
when  he  is  struggling  on  the  trail  nearly  dead  from  ex- 
posure and  fatigue,  hurt  by  accident,  or  anything  like  that, 
the  situation  resolves  itself  into  a  question  of  life  or  death 
for  many  a  traveler.  In  an  emergency  he  goes  into  his 
pack  and  throws  away  everything  he  can  possibly  throw 
away  —  probably  leaving  nothing  but  a  few  provisions  and 
his  outfit.  Going  over  the  passes  and  lakes,  with  their  at- 
tendant perils  and  difficulties,  is  too  much  for  eighty  out  of 
one  hundred.  They  simply  give  up.  It  is  a  crucial  test  of 
strength  and  grit.  The  few  that  pull  through  know  what 
it  means. 

Couriers  have  left  Dawson  with  great  packages  of 
letters,  fully  intending  to  carry  them  through.     On  the 


A   DANGEROUS   POSITION  445 

way  they  gave  it  up  in  despair,  and  so,  to  prevent  tlie  letters 
being  found  and  read,  they  are  torn  up  or  burned. 

The  experience  of  two  partners  who  started  to  make  the 
trip  out  shows  clearly  why  a  little  mail  matter  may  be  a 
serious  addition  to  the  burden.  They  had  dogs  and  sleds. 
One  of  the  men  fell  into  a  crack  in  the  ice,  and  went  in  over 
his  head.  By  a  miracle  his  head  came  up  at  the  right  place, 
and  his  partner  pulled  him  out  of  a  very  dangerous  position. 
By  the  time  he  was  on  the  ice  again  his  clothes  were  frozen 
stiff  and  he  was  nearly  done  for.  As  the  sled  had  remained 
on  the  ice,  his  partner  quickly  lighted  a  fire  in  the  stove  — 
materials  for  a  fire  always  being  "  laid  "  beforehand  — 
and  cut  and  tore  off  the  wet  garments  on  the  spot.  Tlie  fel- 
low was  nearly  stripped  in  an  air  where  the  thennometer 
registered  about  twenty-five  degrees  below  zero.  Part  of 
their  outfit  was  lost.  If  the  stove  had  gone  in,  it  would 
have  been  a  serious  matter.  After  that  they  lightened 
their  packs. 

The  destruction  of  letters  was  not  unusual.  In  fact, 
that  possibility  was  understood  by  all  parties.  The  guides 
who  agreed  to  try  to  carry  a  package  of  lettei*s  accepted 
the  money  for  the  service,  but  said  that  if  it  came  to  a  pinch 
they  would  throw  them  away.  On  this  basis  of  chance  did 
the  Yukoners  conduct  their  correspondence  with  the  outside 
world.  Recently  the  mounted  police  have  undcrinkcii  to 
forward  the  mails  from  station  to  station  along  the  trail 
between  the  coast  and  Dawson. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

THE  SUDDEN  RISE  AISTD  MAGICAL  EXPANSION  OF  SKAG^ 
WAY  — CURIOUS  SIGNS  FOR  THRIVING  ENTER, 
PRISES  — THE  DEBATING  SOCIETY  IN  MRS. 
MALONEY'S  BOARDING  TENT  — ONE  HUNDRED 
DAYS'  GROWTH. 

Seeking  an  Easier  Pass  than  the  Chillioot  —  Why  Gold-Seekers  Began 
to  Stop  at  Skagway—  A  Peaceful  Scene  in  July  —  The  Original 
Promoters  Quickly  Overwhelmed  —  A  Thousand  Tents  and  a 
Thousand  Pack  Animals  —  Organizing  the  Town  —  Marvelous 
Real  Estate  Business  —  How  a  Hotel  Keeper  Announced  His 
Facilities  —  A  More  Modest  Announcement — "Any  Old  Thing 
Bought  and  Sold  "  —  Tons  of  Provisions  Scattered  on  the  Beach  — 
Saloons  and  Dance  Halls  —  An  Opening  Night  —  The  Symbol  of 
Law  and  Order  —  Herds  of  Gambling  Men  —  "  An  Easy  Graft "  — 
Greenhorns  at  Packing  —  Runaway  Animals  —  Many  Ludicrous 
Scenes  —  The  Serious  Side  —  A  Clergyman's  Observations  —  Tho 
Part  the  Women  Played  —  Widow  Maloney's  Debating  Society  -- 
Respect  for  the  Chair  —  Debating  the  Merits  of  Armies  of  tha 
World  —  Some  Race  Feeling  —  Mrs.  Maloney  Does  Not  Permit 
Abuse  of  "  Ould  Ireland"  —  A  Hundred  Days  of  Growth —> 
"Biggest "  Town  in  Alaska. 

PEltHAPS  no  feature  of  tlie  rush  for  the  Klondike  in 
1897  is  more  significant  of  the  conditions  affecting 
travel  in  these  northern  lands  than  the  stories  of  the 
efforts  to  enter  by  the  Skagway  trail,  as  told  by  the  few  who 
managed  to  work  their  way  through  and  reach  Dawson 
early  in  the  winter.  It  is  an  instructive  chapter,  not  simply 
in  the  story  of  the  Klondike,  but  in  the  annals  of  human 
nature.  It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  anything  in  history  to 
compare  with  the  sudden  rise  of  the  city  of  Skagway,  and 

(446) 


A  CITY   OF   MUSHROOM   GROWTH  447 

the  trials  of  the  thousands  of  people  who  endeavored  to 
make  their  way  from  it  over  the  White  Pass  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Yukon. 

Parties  from  the  Pacific  coast  had  for  some  time  been 
seeking  an  easier  way  to  pass  into  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory than  that  afforded  by  the  Chilkoot  heights,  and  one 
Captain  William  Moore,  who  had  been  a  pioneer  in  that 
region,  and  had  acquired  much  experience  in  steamboating, 
persuaded,  these  parties  to  take  hold  of  the  White  Pass. 
]\[oore's  son  had  meanwhile  located  a  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  where  the  Skagway  harbor  would  necessarily  be,  and 
work  was  begun  to  put  the  pass  in  shape. 

The  company  proceeded  to  build  a  sawmill  and  a  wharf, 
and  was  intending  to  open  a  trail  when  the  first  news  of 
the  richness  of  the  Klondike  awakened  the  people  of  the 
west  coast.  One  day,  when  one  of  the  earlier  steamers 
heavily  laden  Avith  the  first  of  the  gold-seekers  was  steaming 
up  Taiya  Inlet,  the  captain  of  the  steamer  remarked :  "  I 
understand  that  there  is  a  good  trail  over  the  mountains 
here,  and  a  better  pass  than  the  Chilkoot.  It  is  easier  to 
land  cargoes,  too.     Suppose  I  put  you  all  ashore  here." 

The  gold-seekers  consulted,  and  the  resvilt  was  that  they 
were  put  ashore.  This  was  on  the  26th  of  -luly,  and  at  that 
time  Skagway  presented  as  peaceful  a  scene  as  any  one  could 
wish.  There  was  one  log  building  and. a  tent.  In  less  than 
a  month,  and  long  before  the  forerunners  had  made  their 
way  over  the  pass,  Skagway  was  a  place  of  two  thousand 
people,  while  twice  as  many  more  were  scattered  along  on 
the  trail.  It  had  become  a  place  of  a  thousand  tents  and 
buildings,  mostly  the  former,  and  a  thousand  pack  animals. 
Saloons  and  dance  halls  had  sprung  up  like  magic  l)nildings, 
and  were  in  full  blast,  and  many  of  those  who  liiid  iirrived 


448  A   TOWN   MEETING 

Avitli  the  intention  of  going  over  quickly  settled  down,  either 
in  despair  of  getting  over  at  all,  or  simply  to  fleece  those  who 
bravely  persisted  and  those  who  were  constantly  arriving. 

The  sudden  inpoiiring  of  people  completely  over- 
whelmed the  original  promoters  of  the  enterprise ;  they  had 
been  dreaming  of  rich  results  from  the  monopoly  control 
of  this  trail  after  being  put  in  shape,  but  they  soon  found 
that  they  had  nothing  to  say,  not  even  concerning  the  site 
of  the  town  and  harbor  to  which  they  supposed  they  were 
entitled. 

On  August  12th  the  people  held  a  meeting  and  organ- 
ized a  town  government  by  electing  A.  J.  McKinney  mayor, 
and  a  committee  was  chosen  to  lay  out  the  town  in  regular 
form  with  streets  sixty  feet  wide  and  lots  fifty  by  one  hun- 
dred feet.  A  law  was  passed  forbidding  any  man  to  hold 
more  than  one  lot,  and  he  must  do  fifty  dollars'  worth  of 
work  on  it  within  thirty  days.  Within  a  few  days  real 
estate  business  was  flourishing;  lots  w^ere  being  transferred 
for  from  one  hundred  dollar  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars for  such  rights  as  the  squatter  had.  Lots  in  what  ap- 
peared to  be  the  business  portion  were  held  at  high  figures, 
and  few  were  sold,  while  more  squatters  settled  back  in  the 
woods,  and  even  down  on  the  tide  flats,  in  ignorance  of  the 
tides  that  sometimes  run  up.  Some  of  the  business  enter- 
prises which  sprung  up  in  those  few  days  were  indeed  pic- 
turesque. There  were  restaurants  in  tents,  of  course,  but 
some  of  the  signs  were  very  pretentious. 

A  Seattle  man,  who  started  for  the  gold  fields  in  August, 
and  who  was,  like  so  many  othei's,  caught  at  Skagway,  de- 
voted his  energies  to  running  an  improvised  hotel,  the  an- 
nouncement of  which  was  conspicuously  posted  as  follows  on 
the  "  outer  gates  " : 


SIGNS   PRETENTIOUS  AND   UNPRETENTIOUS  449 

Holley  House,  Holleywood. 

Skagway,  Alaska. 

Hotel  and  cottages;  The  Most  Delightful  Health  Resort  ou  the 
Coast  of  Noi'th  America. 

Cusine  and  Accommodations  First-Class. 

Six  Cottages  in  Connection  With  the  Hotel. 

Barber,  Billiards,  Bath,  Private  Supper  Rooms,  Music  in  the  palm 
garden  adjoining  the  dining  room. 

Charges  from  |2  up  according  to  the  location  of  the  rooms. 

Meals  a  la  carte.  Private  Suites.  Extra  charges  for  meals  served 
in  rooms. 

Note  —  Anybody  kicking  about  looking-glasses  or  pillows  will  be 
"  trun." 

Some  were  more  modest,  however,  as,  for  instance,  one 

man  who  had  pitched  his  tent  in  a  rough  spot  in  the  midst  of 

trees.      On  a  line  stretched  from  his  tent  to  one  of  the  trees 

hung  a  pair  of  okl  light-colored  trousers,  and  painted  on  them 

in  large  letters  was  the  word : 

"  MEALS." 

On  a  large  sign  on  the  outside  of  one  tent  was  a  legend 
announcing  to  the  passers-by  that  they  could  there  buy  or 
sell  "  boats,  horses,  provisions,  outfits,  or  any  old  thing." 
Horse-shoeing  was  a  great  industry,  and  there  were  too  few 
who  understood  it.  In  one  shop  four  men  were  kept  busy, 
so  busy  that  they  had  no  time  to  straighten  up  their  acliing 
backs.  But  they  received  large  prices,  five  dollars  for  put- 
ting on  an  old  shoe.  All  prices  for  services  were  "  uyt  in  tlie 
air."  Men  charged  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  swim- 
ming a  horse  ashore,  two  dollars  for  landing  a  boat,  four 
dollars  a  ton  for  lightering  freight.  Camping  sites  were 
ruling  at  ten  dollars  a  week. 

In  less  than  two  months  more  than  one  thousand  one 
hundred  locations  were  being  made,  and  the  town  of  tents 
began  to  give  way  to  the  town  of  frame  liouses.     I'lic  trail 


450  A  SIGNIFICANT  SYMBOL 

wae  not  ojH'ii,  and  not  even  the  correct  distance  was  known, 
before  the  eager  throng  was  crowding  wuth  horses,  goats, 
oxen,  and  mules  hitched  to  carts,  wagons,  and  drags,  and 
carrying  pack  saddles  loaded  with  flour,  bacon,  beans,  dried 
apples,  and  hay.  Already  the  saloons  and  dance  halls  were 
np  and  ready  for  patrons.  Tons  of  stuff  were  scattered  over 
the  beach,  and  shiploads  strung  along  the  trail.  Lumber 
was  in  great  demand,  and  lots  selling  as  high  as  one  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars. 

The  first  dance  hall  was  opened  a  few  hours  after  the  ar- 
rival of  one  of  the  steamers  laden  with  people  bound  for 
Klondike,  about  the  middle  of  August.  A  Juneau  man 
had  put  a  piano  aboard,  and,  having  secured  quarters,  he 
had  a  great  opening,  taking  in  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
dollars  the  first  hour  from  drinks  alone.  On  the  outside  of 
the  dance  house  was  a  tree  to  which  was  hung  several  sig- 
nificant notices,  and  from  one  of  the  limbs  dangled  a  one- 
inch  rope  with  a  noose,  put  there  as  a  warning  or  symbol  of 
law  and  order  by  the  Vigilance  Committee,  and  it  was  quite 
effective  against  high  crime.     Three  of  the  notices  read : 

"  Free  Dance  To-night." 

"  Packers  Wanted  on  the  Trail.  Apply  to  Mack  & 
Company." 

"  Saddle  Hoi-ses  Wanted  —  Xo  Cheap  Hatracks." 

Of  course  herds  of  gambling  men  hurried  from  .the 
Pacific  coast  to  set  up  at  Skagway,  and,  for  a  time,  every 
kind  of  a  game  was  running  in  the  most  open  manner.  As 
one  of  ihem  expressed  it,  it  was  the  "  easiest  graft  "  on 
earth.  But  as  the  place  grew  the  citizens  regulated  these 
enterprises  and  order  was  fairly  well  maintained. 

"  Skag^vay,"  said  one  man,  "  reminded  me  a  good  deal 
of  a  circus  town,  there  were  so  manv  tents.     It  looked  a 


NEW  TROUBLES  AND  ANNOYANCES        453 

g'ood  deal  as  Cheyenne  did  in  the  early  days.  Eating 
booths  were  scattered  all  about.  The  saloons  were  made  of 
boards  loosely  thrown  together.  You  could  almost  throw  a 
cat  through  the  cracks.  There  are  some  very  curious  and 
interesting  signs  painted  on  boards  and  stuck  up  outside  the 
tents  to  announce  the  business  of  the  occupants.  One  that 
particularly  attracted  my  attention  read :  '  Hot  bread  and 
stamps  for  sale.' 

"  On  arriving,  people  made  reconnoitering  trips  over  a 
portion  of  the  pass,  returning  full  of  exuberance  at  the  easy 
time  they  would  have  in  getting  over.  They  were  right  in 
this  at  that  time,  but  they  reckoned  without  their  host. 
They  did  not  know  of  the  trouble  in  store  for  them  in  get- 
ting their  stores  and  belongings  off  the  boat.  It  took  nearly 
a  week  to  get  things  sorted,  and  then  there  was  the  greatest 
jumbled-up  mess  one  ever  looked  at.  Many  of  the  goods 
were  damaged  much  by  water.  It  would  have  taken  a 
Philadelphia  lawyer  to  straighten  things.  When  the  in- 
dividual outfits  were  finally  distributed,  new  troubles  hap- 
pened, caused  chiefly  by  the  inexperience  of  the  people 
themselves.  Men  attempted  to  pack  horses  who  liad  never 
before  in  their  lives  seen  a  pack;  the  horses  were  new  to  the 
business,  and  more  than  once  I  have  witnessed  sights  that 
convulsed  me  with  laughter,  and  at  the  same  time  caused  a 
feeling  of  sadness  for  the  poor  chaps  whose  troubles  would 
almost  drive  them  to  desperation.  A  greenhorn  (we  were 
nearly  all  greenhorns)  would  pack  his  horse  down  witli 
flour,  beans,  and  other  things  too  numerous  to  mention, 
and  tie  them  on  any  way,  when  all  of  a  sudden  there 
would  be  a  kick,  a  buck,  and  the  next  instant  a  maddr'iicd 
horse  would  be  running  over  tents  and  through  the  lilUc 
27 


454  AN   ENERGETIC   YOUNG   WOMAN 

city,  scattering  beans  and  flour  in  all  directions.  Some- 
times it  would  take  a  wliole  day  to  capture  tlie  horse.  It 
was  such  thing's  as  these  that  caused  many  a  fellow  to  sell 
his  outfit  for  anything  he  could  get  and  return  to  civiliza- 
tion. 

"  This,  though,  was  the  ludicrous  side,  many  things 
occurring  on  the  trail,  when  the  mud  in  the  meadows  was 
knee-deep,  that  would  drive  the  stoutest-hearted  man  to 
despair." 

A  clergyman  who  came  in  over  the  trail  said  that 
when  the  history  of  the  present  excitement  should  be  writ- 
ten up,  woman's  part  in  it  would  form  a  chapter  of  special 
interest.  "  Along  the  Skagway  trail,"  he  said,  ''  I  was  at- 
tracted by  the  sound  of  an  axe  in  the  wood,  and,  going  in  its 
direction,  I  found  there,  all  alone,  a  slim  woman  about 
twenty  years  old,  felling  trees  and  building  a  cabin.  I  took 
a  snap-shot  picture  of  her  before  she  knew  of  my  presence. 
She  told  me  that  she  and  her  husband  started  for  the  Klon- 
dike, but,  not  being  able  to  proceed,  her  husband  opened  a 
saloon  till  spring,  and  wished  her  to  serve  in  it.  This  she 
positively  refused  to  do,  but,  being  willing  to  take  her  part 
in  the  struggle,  she  determined  to  build  a  log  cabin  and 
sell  it  when  the  rush  was  on.  I  gave  her  a  lift  with  a  few 
logs  she  had  ready  for  the  wall,  and  left,  feeling  that  she  was 
a  noble  woman  and  a  true  wife. 

"  There  were  hundreds  of  idle  men,  grudging  every  day 
the  food  they  ate,  and  impatient  to  reach  the  diggings. 
Many  of  them  were  quarrelsome  and  given  terribly  to  pro- 
fanity. Therefore,  I  suggested  that  we  might  get  together 
and  form  a  debating  society.  It  would  at  least  take  our 
minds  off  our  monotonous  surroundings  and  help  pass  away 
the  idle  hours.     This  w^as  agTced  to,  and  Widow  ]\Ialoney's 


THE   SKAGWAY    DEBATING   CLUB  455 

restaurant  was  selected,  being  the  largest  tent  in  the  camps. 
The  time  for  discussion  was  to  be  anywhere  from  4  to  10 
P.  M.  The  chairman  was  to  take  his  seat  when  the  boarders 
got  throngh  snpper,  abont  an  hour  after  sundown,  and  pre- 
serve order  as  the  disputants  came  and  went  at  pleasure. 
The  audience,  too,  was  free  to  come  and  go  as  the  spirit 
moved,  and  no  objections  were  to  be  raised  by  the  chairman 
if  in  the  heat  of  passion  any  one  went  a-scattering  lead  from 
his  revolver,  for  it  was  conceded  by  all  that  the  only  two 
governments  which  in  any  event  could  interfere  were  those 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  as  these  bodies  them- 
selves did  not  know  which  had  jurisdiction  over  Lindeman, 
it  was  evident  that  moral  snasion  alone  could  be  appealed  to. 
The  question  then  came  up,  AYho  had  enough  of  this  com- 
modity on  hand  to  preside  over  the  turbulent  crowd?  Sev- 
eral were  suggested,  but  they  were  objectionable,  because 
on  the  feast  provocation  they  might  open  a  blazing  battery 
from  the  seat  of  authority.  Finally,  I  was  made  supreme 
spokesman  in  Mrs.  Maloney's  restaurant,  presumably  be- 
cause of  a  meek  and  lowly  appearance.  On  taking  my  seat, 
however,  at  the  first  meeting,  I  presented  a  rope,  and,  hold- 
ing it  before  the  astonished  audience,  assured  them  that 
while  I  might  be  living  in  a  place  without  political  rule,  I 
would  hang  by  the  neck,  on  the  pine  tree  outside,  every 
mother's  son  of  them  who  did  not  respect  the  chair.  This 
had  a  soothing  effect,  and  the  lion,  the  lamb,  the  kid,  and 
the  calf  huddled  together  for  a  while  in  sweetest  harmony. 

"  One  evening  the  subject  of  debate  was,  'Is  Prosperity 
Coming  or  Going  in  the  United  States? '  Tlie  discussion 
at  times  was  very  animated,  as  all  the  political  parties  of  the 
country  were  represented,  and  each  claimed  that  his,  and  liis 
alone,  could  give  the  people  the  horn  of  plenty.      Tlie  cut- 


456  A   WAR   CLOUD   THREATENS 

down  in  the  New  England  factories  was  freely  talked  over, 
and  it  was  generally  agreed  that  cotton  operatives  in  the 
States  are  only  befooled  by  the  politicians  w^hen  they 
promise  them  anything.  Their  only  hope  lies  in  them- 
selves, When  they  agree,  Xorth  and  South,  to  work  only 
for  living  wages  and  uniform  hours  of  labor,  they  may  think 
as  little  of  politics  as  they  do  in  other  countries.  Not 
pauper  labor  in  Europe,  nor  political  parties  in  America,  are 
at  the  root  of  the  present  troubles. 

"  Another  evening  was  given  up  to  the  discussion  of  the 
merits  and  demerits  of  the  several  armies  of  the  world. 
This  was  the  liveliest  night  of  all.  Men  from  all  nations 
w^ere  present,  and,  of  course,  each  reckoned  his  owm  best  and 
bravest.  The  Englishmen  thought  there  was  nothing  on 
earth  that  could  stand  up  before  the  redcoats,  and  the  Irish- 
men present  declared  that  that  was  so  because  there  were 
no  Saxons  inside.  The  Celtic  race  alone  made  the*  British 
array  respected.  An  Englishman  pertinently  asked  '  If 
Irishmen  were  such  fools  as  to  fight  for  the  greatness 
and  glory  of  old  England?'  'They  have  to,  or  starve,' 
cried  a  dozen  voices.  Paddy  Sheehan,  however,  got  into 
hot  water  when  he  attempted  to  prove  that  it  was  the 
Irish  that  fought  and  conquered  in  the  late  "VVar  of  the  Re- 
bellion. 

"  A  Rhode  Islander  present  was  so  cruel  as  to  charge 
against  poor  Paddy's  race  in  reply,  that  the  only  time  it  dis- 
tinguished itself  was  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  when 
they  made  the  quickest  time  on  record  to  the  other  side  of 
the  Potomac.  This  led  to  pulling  of  revolvers,  and  for  a 
time  there  was  a  threatening  war-cloud  over  the  head- 
w^aters  of  the  Yukon.  It  capped  the  climax,  however,  when 
a  Canadian  boastingly  declared  that  there  was  a  fragrant 


AN  IRISHWOMAN  IN  THE   MOON  457 

smell  to  the  English  rose  and  a  piercing  sting  to  the  Scotch 
thistle;  but  nothing  but  a  butterfly  would  either  love  or  fear 
the  shamrock. 

"  Up  to  this  point  Widow  Maloney  took  no  part  in  the 
discussion ;  but  to  sit  still  and  hear  a  '  hathen  f urn'r  ' 
speak  disparagingly  of  the  emblem  of  her  dear  land  was 
more  than  she  could  stand,  and,  taking  up  a  stick  that  lay  by 
the  stove,  she  made  for  him,  shouting,  '  An'  is  it  ould  Ire- 
land ye're  abusin',  ye  blackguard  ? ' 

''  To  pull  his  gun  on  a  woman  would  have  been  sure 
death  to  the  Canadian,  and  he  knew  it.  He  also  knew  that 
to  stand  up  or  sit  down  was  dangerous,  and  therefore  he  put 
himself  outside  of  Widow  Maloney's  tent  quicker  than  I 
can  tell.  Everyone  who  had  said  anything  slightingly  of 
the  Irish  race,  or  of  Ireland,  was  now  profuse  in  his  apologies 
to  Mrs.  Maloney.  But  Jack  Rogers,  from  Chicago,  went 
beyond  all  others  in  exalting  Ireland,  in  that  he  declared 
there  was  a  woman  in  the  moon,  and  that  he  believed  her 
to  be  an  Irish  maiden,  for  she  had  a  shamrock  on  her  breast. 
The  idea  of  a  woman  being  seen  in  the  moon  was  such  a 
novelty  that  the  meeting  adjourned  to  see  her.  Every  one 
who  witnessed  the  new  and  strange  sight  that  night  will 
never  forget  it,  and,  as  for  Mrs.  Maloney,  her  anger  was 
charmed  away  by  the  thought  that  perhaps  in  the  moon 
there  were  Irish  maidens  who  bore  the  shamrock,  and  her 
wounded  feelings  were  healed  by  the  assurance  of  all  present 
that  the  woman  in  the  moon  was  not  either  Canadian  or 
British,  and  most  likely  was  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  kings 
who  reigned  of  old  in  Tara's  halls." 

It  will  be  diiRcult  for  people  of  staid  eastern  towns  of 
slow  growth,  or  no  growth  at  all,  to  realize  the  extent  of 
the  mushroom  expansion  of  Skagway.      As  I  have  said,  in 


458  A  HUNDRED  DAYS'   GROWTH 

the  last  week  in  July,  it  was  a  quiet  nook  in  the  dreary  liills 
with  a  log  hut  and  a  tent  near  the  flat  beach. 

In  one  hundred  days  there  was  a  substantia]  town  of  five 
hundred  frame  and  one  liiuidrctl  log  buildings,  besides  tents 
scattered  all  through  the  woods.  Many  of  the  buildings 
were  of  two  stories  and  some  of  them  of  three.  Among  the 
enterprises  which  were  flourishing  were : 

A  wide-awake  six-page  weekly  newspaper  —  the  SJcag- 
icay  Keu's. 

A  church  and  schoolhouse  combined,  seating  capacity 
three  hundred  persons,  built  by  contributions  from  all  de- 
nominations. 

A  private  post-ofiice. 

Three  wharves  for  heavy-draft  vessels,  costing  twenty 
thousand  dollars  each. 

An  electric  light  system  was  being  introduced,  and  a 
city  water  system,  consisting  of  a  simple  board  flume, 
brought  an  ample  supply  of  good  water  from  a  lake  on  the 
mountain  side. 

A  jail  was  built,  and  sundry  United  States  government 
officials,  including  a  United  States  commissioner,  with  a 
number  of  doctors,  lawyers,  etc.,  were  among  the  citizens. 

Skagway  could  accommodate  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred people  at  the  hotels  and  lodging-houses.  A  three- 
story  hotel,  fifty  by  one  hundred  feet,  was  in  course  of  con- 
struction, capable  of  accommodating  four  hundred  people. 

In  three  months  it  had  become  the  "  biggest  "  town  in 
Alaska. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

DIFFICULTIES  AND  HORRORS  OF  THE  SKAGWAY  TRAIL 
—  PRECIPICES  OVER  WHICH  HORSES  TUMBLED  — 
A  LIFE  FOR  A  SACK  OF  FLOUR  AND  A  LITTLE 
BACON. 

An  Impussable  Trail  —  The  Blockade  —  Stories  Brought  to  Dawson  — 
Principal  Features  of  the  White  Pass  Route  —  Slippery  Places  for 
Horses  —  Over  Precipices  into  the  River  —  Porcupine  Hill  — 
Where  Most  of  the  Horses  Were  Lost  —  The  Sight  of  a  Life  Time — 
Death  on  Summit  Lake  —  Efforts  to  Open  the  Trail  —  All  Kinds 
of  Pack  Animals  —  Scarcity  of  Fodder  —  Selling  Hay  and  Throw- 
ing in  the  Horses  —  The  Big  Marsh  —  Floundering  in  the  Mud  — 
Thieving  on  the  Trail  —  Looking  for  Pierre,  the  Frenchman  — 
Discovered  with  Stolen  Goods  —  Appealing  to  Hearts  of  Stone  — 
Six  Shots  Sounding  as  One  —  The  Limp  Form  of  a  Thief  Hanging 
by  tlie  Wayside  —  A  Heap  of  Stones  Cast  on  the  Body  —  Chances 
to  Make  Money  on  the  Trail. 

THE  immediate  cause  for  the  rise  of  Skagway  was  the 
apparently  reasonable  assertion  that  the  White  Pass 
was  much  easier  to  go  over  than  the  Chilkoot  Pass, 
the  latter  being  about  a  thousand  feet  higher  than  the 
former.  But  the  secondary  and  main  cause  for  the  growth 
of  Skagway  was  the  fact  that,  from  the  first,  the  White  Pass 
route  was  well-nigh  impassable.  In  the  firet  place,  the 
people  had  rushed  in  before  the  trail  was  ready.  Severn] 
thousand  people  set  out  to  take  Xature  as  they  found  her  in 
Alaska,  and  then  discovered  that  she  was  utterly  unmanage- 
able.    The  pass  might  have  afforded  a  comfortable  route  for 

(459) 


400  A  GRIM   JOKE 

the  few  wlio  were  acqiiaintccl  with  the  conditions  of  trails, 
and  familiar  with  the  requirements  of  packing,  but  when 
several  thousand  people  endeavored  to  pass  over  in  midsum- 
mer, with  all  sorts  of  rigs,  with  horses,  mules,  and  oxen,  they 
found  it  an  impossibility.  The  result  was  a  blockade. 
Only  a  small  number  of  those  who  started  reached  even  the 
summit  of  White  Pass.  The  great  majority  simply  settled 
back,  and  made  Skagway  a  booming  town  for  no  better 
reason  than  that  its  inhabitants  could  not  get  out  of  it.  I  do 
not  believe  that  history  can  show  a  grimmer  joke  than  that 
town.  It  had  not  the  slightest  reason  for  existence  in  that 
desolate  region,  except  as  a  gateway  to  an  entrance  which 
could  not  be  forced. 

The  stories  which  were  brought  into  Dawson  of  suffer- 
ings on  the  trail  were  vivid  and  stirring,  though,  to  tell  the 
truth,  we  had  very  little  sympathy  for  the  eager  crowd  that 
was  endeavoring  to  come  in.  Most  of  us  had  been  in  Alaska 
long  enough  to  know  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  secure  a  suf- 
ficiency of  food  when  only  a  few  are  in  the  country,  and  we 
realized  that,  if  the  crowd  at  Skagway  got  through,  there 
would  be  an  enormous  number  of  mouths  to  fill  with  com- 
paratively few  provisions  in  sight  for  the  purpose.  By  the 
time  we  began  to  hear  the  stories  of  the  Skagway  trail  it  had 
become  sufficiently  evident  that  the  only  salvation  of  Daw- 
son for  the  winter  was  in  the  White  Pass  proving  impass- 
able. We  regarded  the  stories  of  the  difficulties  of  that 
trail,  therefore,  with  a  sort  of  selfish  satisfaction. 

Unlike  the  Chilkoot  Pass  route,  which  is  a  constant 
ascent,  ending  with  a  steep  climb  to  the  summit,  the  White 
Pass  route  is  a  succession  of  hills,  so  that  a  great  deal  of 
waste  climbing  is  done,  ]-)robably  enough  to  make  up  for  the 
difference  in  altitude,  which,  apparently,  is  in  favor  of  the 


DIFFICULTIES   OF    THE   WHITE   PASS  463 

White  Pass.  The  trail  was  constructed  something  on  the 
principle  of  a  huge  trap.  For  the  fii*st  three  or  four  miles 
it  looked  very  easy  and  attractive.  For  this  distance  there 
was  a  wagon  road  over  which  horses  and  wagons  would  meet 
with  little  difficulty.  Then  the  Skagway,  which  is  a  shal- 
low stream,  though  very  swift,  had  to  be  crossed.  Some  of 
the  first  pilgrims  had  constructed  a  rude  bridge  of  logs  over 
which  but  one  horse  could  pass  at  a  time.  Wagons  had  to 
be  unloaded,  horses  led  carefully  over,  then  the  wagons 
drawn  over  and  reloaded.  From  this  bridge  wagons  could 
be  used  three  miles  further,  when  what  was  quite  appro- 
priately dubbed  Devil's  Hill  was  encountered.  Here  the 
trouble  began.  The  trail  was  not  over  two  feet  wide,  and 
at  the  top  of  the  hill  horses  were  compelled  to  make  a  jump 
of  two  feet  high  and  alight  on  a  slippery  rock.  At  one 
place  there  was  a  path  up  a  steep  incline  on  which  logs  had 
been  laid,  fonning  a  sort  of  ladder. 

"  When  you  get  to  the  top  of  it  you  are  five  hundred 
feet  above  sea  level,"  said  one  of  the  few  who  came  through 
safely.  "  The  hill  is  very  rocky,  but  I  was  careful  to  make 
notes  of  its  condition,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  a  moun- 
tain climber  should  not  put  his  horse  over  there  with  com- 
parative ease.  iSTotwithstanding  that  fact,  T  found  a  dead 
horse  on  the  pass.  I  examined  it  and  found  that  it  liad 
broken  one  of  its  legs.  The  owner  had  no  more  use  for  it 
and  killed  it.  After  leaving  the  first  hill  you  descend, 
entering  a  canon,  when  another  hill  is  encountered  with  a 
rise  of  eight  hundred  feet. 

"  The  path  over  it,  or,  rather,  around  it,  should  not  be 
dignified  by  the  name  of  trail.  It  is  less  than  two  feet  wide 
at  many  places,  and  the  walking,  especially  for  hoi-ses,  is 
the  worst  imaginable.     The  formation  on  the  surface  is  a 


404  ON   POKCUPINE   HILL 

soft,  slippery,  slate  rock.  The  path  winds  its  crooked  way 
around  the  mountain,  while  below  it  drops  oft"  sheer  five  hun- 
dred feet  to  the  river.  This  is  the  place  where  so  many 
horses  and  packs  have  been  lost. 

''  One  pack  train  of  seventeen  horses  lost  eight  of  them 
down  this  slide  on  the  first  trip  over.  The  footing  is  all  that 
a  clear-minded,  strong-nerved  man  would  care  to  encounter, 
and  it  is  practically  impossible  for  such  horses  as  are  there 
to  pack  any  considerable  amount  of  supplies  around  this 
bluff. 

"  On  the  farther  side  of  Porcupine  Hill  is  a  place  where 
one  must  be  very  cautious.  Boulders  from  four  to  ten  feet 
square  are  met  with.  One  must  work  around  the  corners  of 
these  boulders  to  get  down  in  safety.  It  took  me  about  one 
hour  and  a  half.  I  went  slowly,  picking  my  way,  as  one  ac- 
customed to  mountain  climbing  will  do,  and  had  no  difficulty 
in  reaching  the  foot  of  the  hill.  I  was  careful  to  note  the 
dangers  that  a  horse  would  encounter,  and  I  say  that  a  horse 
can  go  over  Porcupine  Hill  all  right  if  the  person  handling 
the  animal  knows  his  business.  Inquiry  satisfied  me  that 
the  death  of  many  horses  was  due  solely  to  the  inexperience 
of  those  in  charge.  The  packs  are  put  on  the  backs  of  the 
horses  with  gross  carelessness,  and  wdiat  is  the  result?  It 
is  up  hill  and  down  hill,  and  around  boulders,  and  before 
the  journey  is  accomplished  the  packs  begin  to  slide,  and 
the  horse's  burden  is  thus  increased  threefold.  A  slip  is 
made,  the  pack  gives  way,  and  the  animal  goes  down  to  its 
death,  or  breaks  a  leg  and  is  killed  by  the  owner,  who  curses 
his  luck  and  starts  back  for  another  horse. 

"  Following  this  place  is  what  is  known  as  First  Bridge 
Hill,  which  covers  a  distance  of  three  miles.  Then  comes 
the  hill  called  Summit  Hill,  four  miles  of  as  tough  climbing 


A  HOPELESS   TANGLE  ,  465 

as  one  ever  saw.  It  was  on  this  hill  that  the  great  loss  of 
horses  occnrred.  The  trail  runs  along  the  side  of  a  rocky 
mountain,  where  a  misstep  will  send  an  animal  from  five 
hundred  to  one  thousand  feet  below.  On  the  side  of  nearly 
all  thes3  hills  the  liquid  mud  was  two  feet  deep,  and  in  some 
places  it  ran  like  a  stream.  There  were  sharp  rocks  and 
round  rocks,  and  great  slabs  of  granite  down  which  the 
hoi^ses  slid  into  mud  holes. 

"  Half  the  people  are  greenhorns  and  don't  know  how 
to  pack  a  horse.  They  pile  on  the  load,  and  when  the  horse 
gets  to  a  bad  place,  the  pack  hits  against  the  rocks,  and,  of 
course,  makes  the  horse  step  out  to  keep  his  balance.  Down 
go  his  feet,  and  over  goes  the  horse.  I  saw  one  mule  turn 
three  complete  somersaults,  and  the  owner  never  went  after 
either  the  mule  or  the  packs.  You  can  see  dead  horses  and 
lost  packs  all  along  down  the  precipice,  and  all  mixed  up  to- 
gether. 'Why  don't  they  go  after  them?'  Well,  it 
would  take  them  a  week  to  go  down  there  and  bring  up  a 
pack.  It's  two  thousand  feet  down  there  in  some  places. 
Some  men,  after  packing  heavy  outfits  over  seventeen  miles 
of  this  trail,  sold  out  for  enough  to  pay  their  fare  back  to  the 
United  States. 

"  It  was  a  sight  such  as  one  would  not  care  to  see  more 
than  once  in  a  lifetime.  Horses,  tents,  feed,  supplies, 
and  men  were  piled  together  is  an  apparently  hopeless 
tangle.  A  drizzling  rain  was  falling  most  of  the  time. 
Stubborn  fires  were  smouldering  and  sputtering,  and  men 
were  standing  or  wandering  about  as  tliough  they  were 
dazed  by  the  obstacles  ahead.  I  couldn't  help  noticing  the 
tired,  haggard  look  on  almost  every  face  that  T  saw,  as 
though  the  load  of  anxiety  and  care  was  more  llian  tliey 
could  endure." 


466  BRAVE   STRUGGLES   ALONG   THE   TRAIL 

Summit  Lake  is  about  a  mile  wide  and  six  miles  long, 
and  near  the  middle  is  a  tall,  rocky  inlet  which,  in  rough 
weather,  is  noted  for  the  breakers  which  dash  upon  its 
shores.  One  foggy  moniing,  shortly  after  a  party  had 
started  on  its  journey,  a  squall  sprang  up,  and  not  being 
able  to  make  out  their  bearings  in  the  fog,  their  little  boat 
was  driven  straight  upon  the  rocks.  She  capsized  and 
threw  the  three  men  into  the  icy  water.  One  of  them  im- 
mediately sank  and  was  never  seen  again.  The  other  two 
struck  out  for  the  shore  and  finally  reached  it,  though  one 
was  so  exhausted  that  he  had  to  be  dragged  out  of  the  water. 

There  were  any  number  struggling  along  the  trail  who 
w^ould  have  turned  back  had  it  not  been  for  their  pride. 
All  those  poor  fellows  worked  as  they  had  never  worked  be- 
fore, and  w^hen  they  finished  were  wet  through  with  per- 
spiration or  rain,  or  both.  When  night  came,  they  lay 
down  on  the  damp  ground.  By  morning  they  were  too  stiff 
to  move  at  first,  but,  when  they  got  around  to  it,  another 
hard  day's  work  followed.  All  along  was  strung  a  line  of 
struggling  horses  and  cursing  men,  picking  their  way  over 
and  around  rocks,  logs,  and  dead  animals. 

Completely  balked  by  this  impassable  mountain  barrier, 
with  the  prospect  of  spending  a  long  Alaskan  winter  on  an 
inhospitable  sea  coast,  where  blizzards  and  storms  have  free 
play  for  over  four  months  of  the  year,  the  six  thousand  or 
more  gold-seekers  at  Skagway  finally  combined  to  close  the 
trail  and  assail  it  with  dynamite  which  had  been  brought 
up  from  Juneau.  So  an  army  of  about  two  hundred  men 
started  in  to  open  it  for  all.  ISTotices  were  posted  all  along 
the  trail  warning  miners  to  get  out  of  the  way  under  penalty 
of  punishment.  Fp  to  this  time  but  five  parties  had  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  over  the  summit,  and  the  other  thousands 


THE   FEW    WHO   SUCCEEDED  467 

were  strung  all  the  way  along  from  the  coast  for  fourteen 
miles  into  the  mountains  of  the  interior.  From  time  to 
time  steamers  arrived  loaded  down  with  other  gold-seekers. 
When  in  a  few  days  the  trail  was  reopened  it  soon  became 
as  bad  as  ever. 

After  a  time  the  stench  from  dead  horses  became  so 
offensive  in  Skagway  that  a  mass-meeting  was  held  to  plan 
for  the  abatement  of  the  nuisance.  As  a  result  a  great  num- 
ber of  bodies  were  gathered  together  and  cremated. 

One  passenger  said  that  up  to  October  not  more  than 
twenty  complete  outfits  had  reached  the  lakes  over  the  Skag- 
way trail.  "  A  majority  of  those  who  got  through,"  he 
said,  "  had  not  more  than  two  hundred  or  five  hundred 
pounds  of  outfit.  I  knew  one  man  with  only  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  pounds.  On  the  summit  snow  is  now  fully 
six  feet  deep  and  the  fall  continues  quite  heavy.  There  are 
some  of  the  miners  who  will  make  an  attempt  to  get  in  with 
sleds  and  dog  trains,  when  snows  have  covered  the  trails, 
and  the  lakes  are  frozen.  No  one  has  been  getting  in  of 
late,  and,  in  fact,  very  few  have  attempted  to  do  so,  for 
the  trail  is  in  such  a  bad  condition  that  it  is  absurd  to  think 
of  doing  so." 

Every  description  of  pack  animals  could  be  seen  on  the 
trail,  from  the  family  driving  horse  and  the  trick  mule, 
down  to  the  smallest  Mexican  burro.  It  was  impossible  to 
hire  any  packing  done,  and  only  an  option  on  a  horse  after 
the  owner  w^as  through  with  him  could  be  obtained,  and 
these  sold  for  ten  times  as  much  as  the  animals  Avere  worth 
anywhere  else.  Two  people  who  hnd  an  option  on  four 
little  cayuses  for  four  hundred  dollars,  to  be  delivered  in 
one  week,  dead  or  alive,  were  shortly  afterwards  offered  six 
hundred  dollars  for  them. 


4.08  FLOUNDERING   IN   THE   MARSH 

AVhen  this  sort  of  thing  had  been  going  on  for  a  little 
time,  horse  feed  became  scarce  and  horses  were  at  a  dis- 
count. Early  in  September  a  man  could  pick  up  a  good 
horse  for  ten  dollars.  A  party  which,  during  the  season  of 
hio-h  prices  had  rushed  back  to  the  United  States  and  secured 
a  few  horses,  found,  when  they  returned,  that  they  could 
not  be  sold.  So  they  loaded  their  horses  with  fodder,  which 
was  at  a  great  premium,  and  started  for  the  summit.  Reach- 
ing there  they  sold  the  feed  for  eighteen  dollars  a  sack  and 
threw  the  horses  in,  so  they  got  out  of  the  dilemma  very  well. 
But  by  the  time  the  hay  was  l^rought  up  to  the  hungry 
animals  waiting  for  it,  the  other  animals  met  on  the  trail, 
by  each  taking  a  passing  nip,  had  reduced  the  quantity  by 
about  fifty  per  cent.  The  horses  are  fond  of  birch  leaves, 
but  they  soon  contracted  mud  fever,  and,  as  they  were  in- 
sufiiciently  fed  and  not  sheltered  at  all,  they  soon  became 
worthless.  They  really  died  from  lack  of  care.  Horses 
were  a  good  deal  better  on  the  Skagway  trail  than  burros, 
although  the  best  thing  of  all  was  an  ox,  which  was  A'ery 
good  for  muddy  traveling,  and  could  carry  a  big  load.  The 
burros  taken  up  were  almost  a  failure.  They  were  good 
over  rocks,  but  no  good  at  all  in  the  swamp,  which  forms 
about  two-thirds  of  the  entire  distance. 

Those  who  succeeded  in  working  their  way  past  these 
obstacles  found  themselves  finally  at  the  big  marsh.  Of 
this  no  adequate  description  is  possible.  It  is  a  terror  for 
packers.  A  horse  flounders  and  rolls  in  the  mud,  until  he 
either  gives  up  from  exhaustion,  or  else  tears  his  pack  loose, 
or  breaks  a  leg.  ]\Iany  of  the  miners  were  camped  on  this 
bog,  which  is  a  mile  and  a  half  long,  waiting  till  the  freeze 
of  winter  covers  the  ground  so  that  they  could  get  across. 
The  ground  was  soft  and  springy,  and  very  muddj'  even  be- 


LUMBER   THROWN   AWAY  471 

fore  it  was  trampled  up.  A  man  went  to  his  knees  in  the 
mud,  and  a  horse  wallowed  to  his  belly.  After  crossing  the 
marsh  the  trail  is  much  the  same  as  in  the  earlier  stages,  up 
and  down  over  a  continuous  chain  of  hills  and  mountains. 

At  times  the  gold-seekers  were  encouraged  to  believe 
that  there  was  a  betterment,  owing  to  the  men's  efforts  to 
corduroy  the  bad  places,  and  the  occasional  glimpse  of  sun, 
but  a  night's  rain  would  undo  it  all,  and  the  morning  would 
show  it  worse  than  ever.  The  horses  floundered  over  the 
boulders  and  through  the  mud,  which  is  nothing  more  than 
decomposed  vegetation,  and  broke  their  legs.  Then  they 
were  shot  or  knocked  on  the  head.  Lack  of  animals,  and 
particularly  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  to  move  supplies, 
led  many  to  split  up  their  outfits  and  Iiurry  on  Avith  barely 
enough  to  last  them  until  they  reached  the  river  camps. 

People  who  had  flattered  themselves  that  they  had  suf- 
ficient foresight  to  take  in  lumber  to  be  put  together  for 
boats  after  crossing  the  pass,  found  that  the  proper  thing  to 
do  with  it  at  Skagway  was  to  throw  it  away.  One  man  built 
his  house  entirely  out  of  lumber  which  had  been  intended 
for  lake  boats,  and  which  had  cost  nearly  three  hundred  dol- 
lars in  the  United  States.  This  Skagway  man  picked  up  all 
he  wanted  of  it  for  eighteen  dollars  a  thousand,  and  much 
of  it  cost  him  nothing.  Owners  were  glad  to  give  it  away  to 
get  it  off  their  hands. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  season,  when  thousands  of  men 
and  animals  and  tons  of  freight  were  scattered  along  the 
trail,  thieving  began.  Some  who  had  sold  their  outfits  at 
Skagway,  and  pushed  on  light-handed  so  as  to  get  through, 
began  to  appropriate  new  outfits  on  the  other  side. 

A  party  of  prospectors  had,  after  great  hardships,  packed 
their  goods  over  the  worst  part  of  the  Skagway  trail,  lind 


472  A   THIEF   DETECTED 

caelicd  them,  and  were  inoving-  tliem  by  relays  to  the  lakes. 
Some  of  the  goods  it  had  cost  thirty  dollars  a  hundred  to  get 
over.  One  day,  about  the  middle  of  August,  they  missed 
from  their  cache  a  sack  of  flour  and  one  hundred  pounds  of 
bacon.  They  had  taken  no  precaution  against  theft,  be- 
lieving that  under  such  conditions  as  exist  in  Alaska  a  man's 
property  would  be  held  sacred. 

Immediately  upon  discovering  their  loss  they  notified 
the  other  miners  in  the  vicinity.  A  meeting  was  called 
at  once.  Each  gold-seeker  felt  that  his  sack  of  flour  might 
be  the  next  to  go,  and  it  was  agreed  that  a  food  thief  was  as 
dreadful  an  enemy  as  a  murderer.  Food  to  these  men  was 
life.  A  committee  of  six  vigilantes  was  chosen  by  lot  to 
search  out  the  criminal  and  punish  him,  the  penalty  to  be 
death. 

In  a  tent  near  the  summit  lived  a  Frenchman  known 
only  as  "  Pierre."  He  was  low-browed,  dark-visaged,  and 
surly.  He  had  no  friends  and  seemed  to  desire  none,  while 
his  doubtful  manners  and  appearance  made  him  an  object  of 
suspicion  and  dislike.  At  dusk  of  the  day  on  wdiicli  the 
loss  was  made  known  the  vigilantes  climbed  to  the  summit. 
They  went  silently  and  paused  when  near  the  tent  for  a 
whispered  consultation.  Approaching  still  nearer,  tliey 
saw  that  a  dim  light  was  burning  within,  and  upon  the 
canvas  was  cast  the  grotesque  shadow  of  the  Frenchman. 
He  was  stooping  close  to  the  ground. 

"  He's  burying  the  grub,"  whispered  one  of  the  vigi- 
lantes. 

Leaving  two  men  outside,  four  entered  the  tent.  One 
was  the  prospector  who  had  been  robbed.  Pierre  started 
up  at  the  appearance  of  his  visitors.  His  movement  for  a 
gun  was  arrested  by  a  sharp  word  of  warning,  and  he  stood 


THE   PUNISHMENT   OF   PIERRE  473 

as  though  petrified,  his  eyes  riveted  on  the  muzzles  of  four 
revolvei-s. 

There  was  no  need  of  searching  further.  In  a  rude  hole 
dug  in  the  hard  earth  in  the  center  of  the  tent  lay  the  sack 
of  flour  and  the  bacon.  The  owner  recognized  the  marks 
and  identified  them  as  his  property.  Without  a  word  the 
Frenchman  was  seized,  and  with  stout  ropes,  brought  along 
for  the  purpose,  was  tied  hand  and  foot.  He  begged 
piteously  for  mercy,  and  his  black  whiskers  stood  out  on  a 
face  pale  as  that  of  a  corpse.  He  appealed  to  hearts  of 
stone.  There  was  no  softening  light  in  the  eyes  of  his  cap- 
tors. 

They  carried  him  out,  and  to  a  pole  before  his  fragile 
habitation  they  lashed  him  fast.  All  six  withdrew  a  short 
distance,  and,  at  a  word,  six  shots  rang  out,  sounding  as  one. 
Then  the  vigilantes  left. 

A  life  for  a  sack  of  flour  and  one  hundred  pounds  of 
bacon! 

The  limp  form,  bleeding  from  six  wounds,  hung  there 
all  night,  and  the  next  day  it  was  there,  and  the  next.  Over 
the  trail,  a  short  distance  away,  passed  many  men.  When 
they  looked  toward  the  lonely  tent  and  saw  its  sentinel  they 
averted  their  faces  and  hurried  by.  Even  the  horses  shied, 
seeming  to  feel  a  nameless  horror  in  the  atmosphere.  Late 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day  two  men  stayed  in  their 
journey  to  finish  the  work  of  the  vigilantes.  They  un- 
bound the  body  and  dragged  it  further  up  the  hill.  They 
could  not  wait  to  dig  a  grave,  but  they  piled  stones  high 
above  the  body  and  left  it  there.  The  lonely  cairn  is  a 
warning  to  others  who,  like  Pierre,  hope  to  reach  the  Yukon 
with  no  other  outfit  than  light  fingers. 

While  this  terrible  struggle  was  taking  place  on  the 
28 


47-4  A    GOLDEN    OPPORTUNITY 

Skagway  trail,  the  route  by  the  Chilkoot  Pass  remained 
open,  and  hundreds  went  over.  But  the  prices  for  packing 
were  enormous.  The  Indians  and  professional  packers 
(juickly  raised  the  price  to  thirty  and  even  forty  cents  a 
pound,  and  many  threw  their  outfits  away  rather  than  pay 
such  rates.  Others  who  had  money  were  willing  to  pay 
almost  anything,  so  great  was  their  haste  to  get  through, 
while  many  who  had  the  sense  to  proceed  more  moderately 
took  advantage  of  every  opportunity  for  making  money. 

A  man  named  Johnson  had  early  in  the  season  managed 
to  get  himself  and  family  over  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  together 
with  a  small  knockdown  boat.  When  he  reached  Crater 
Lake  he  determined  to  cut  off  part  of  the  distance  around  it 
by  putting  his  boat  together  and  ferrying  his  supplies. 
"While  loading  his  boat  a  man  came  along  and  offered  him 
ten  dollars  for  a  lift  over  the  lake.  Johnson  said  he  was  not 
in  the  ferrying  business,  but,  if  he  had  room  when  his  own 
goods  had  been  loaded,  he  would  do  so.  He  found  that  he 
had  room,  and  while  loading  in  the  stranger's  effects  an- 
other came  along  and  offered  ten  dollars  for  a  lift  over  the 
lake.  The  result  was  that  Johnson  made  forty  dollars  that 
afternoon  after  two  o'clock. 

Xow,  when  an  old  Yukon  miner  strikes  a  placer  capable 
of  yielding  about  one  hundred  dollars  a  day  by  hard  work, 
he  regards  himself  as  one  of  the  lucky  men  of  the  earth. 
The  early  pioneers  had  wintered  with  the  blizzards  and 
summered  with  the  mosquitoes,  and  up  to  the  discovery  of 
the  Bonanza  had  barely  made  enough  to  pay  for  their  sup- 
plies. And  here  Johnson  with  his  knockdown  boat  had  a 
Klondike  shoved  by  Fate  right  under  his  nose.  He  had 
sense  enough  to  see  it,  and  to  take  advantage  of  this  golden 
opportunity.     Many  were  so  anxious  to  get  to  Dawson  and 


A  HUNDRED   DOLLARS   A   DAY  475 

pick  gold  off  the  bushes  that  they  wouldn't  have  seen  a 
chance  twice  as  big. 

Johnson  just  set  up  his  tent  and  established  his  family, 
and  announced  that  he  was  the  only  ferryman  on  Crater 
Lake.  In  thirty-one  days  he  made  three  thousand  dollars, 
and  meanwhile  his  wife  had  broken  open  some  of  their  sup- 
plies and  was  making  pies  that  sold  like  hot  cakes  for  a  dol- 
lar each.  Later  in  the  season  Johnson  sold  his  little  boat 
for  three  hundred  dollars,  and  bought  a  larger  one  and  a 
new  stock  of  supplies  from  those  who  were  anxious  to  drop 
a  part  of  theirs,  and  made  his  way  to  the  Yukon,  where  he 
was  in  plenty  of  time  to  get  a  good  claim  in  one  of  the  pay- 
ing districts.  Some  of  those  who  had  iiished  by  him  had 
spent  a  lot  of  money,  more  than  they  would  earn  in  a  long 
time  working  at  fifteen  dollars  a  day,  and  working  hard, 
and  they  had  allowed  their  provisions  to  be  reduced.  Then, 
caught  in  the  ever-shifting  eddies  of  the  stampedes,  they 
rushed  here  and  there  staking  claims,  some  of  them  doubt- 
less securing  good  ones,  but  it  was  as  yet  unknown,  and  their 
claims  were  no  better  because  they  had  hurried.  Those 
who  came  later  had  the  same  opportunities,  and  meanwhile 
had  been  picking  up  the  money  which  the  others  had 
dropped. 


CHAPTEK   XXXIV 

THREATENED  FAMINE  —  STORES  OF  THE  TRADING  COM- 
PANIES CLOSED  — STEAMBOATS  STUCK  ON  THE 
YUKON  FLATS  — THE  PERILOUS  SITUATION  REAL- 
IZED. 

Miners  Hasten  to  Secure  Provisions  —  Companies  Fear  Speculation  in 
Food  —  Eggs  at  $4  a  Dozen  —  Good  Mining  Claims  Traded  for 
Provisions  —  Candles  at  a  Dollar  Apiece  —  Waiting  Three  Hours  to 
File  an  Order — The  Trading  Companies  Confer  —  Doling  Out 
Provisions — The  Steamboats  near  Fort  Yukon  —  Fruitless  Efforts 
to  Get  over  the  Bar  —  Captain  Hansen's  Efforts — Returning  to 
Dawson  —  Watching  the  River  for  the  Steamboats  —  The  Situation 
Realized  —  Plenty  of  Whisky,  but  Little  to  Eat — Police  without 
Supplies  —  The  Warehouses  Threatened  —  Police  Contemplate  the 
Necessity  of  Seizing  Provisions  —  Fancy  Prices  for  Dogs  —  Mine 
Owners  Threatened  by  Failure  to  Pay  Debts. 

AS  soon  as  the  old  miners  became  aware  of  the  great 
rush  from  the  States  which  was  threatened,  they 
hastened  to  the  storehouses  of  the  different  com- 
panies to  secure  their  supplies  for  the  next  winter.  This 
began  as  soon  as  the  first  provisions  arrived,  and  the  result 
was  that  the  greater  part  of  the  cargoes  were  sold  as  fast 
as  the  boats  came  to  Dawson.  A  little  later  the  companies, 
instead  of  turning  over  the  provisions,  took  orders  and  the 
gold  dust  for  them  and  kept  tabs  on  the  buyers,  something 
as  rations  are  distributed  in  army  camps.  Prices  were  not 
raised  by  the  companies,  but  it  was  evident  that  the  threat- 
ened scarcity  would  gTeatly  enhance  the  price  of  such  pro- 

(476) 


PREVAILING   PRICES  477 

visions  as  found  their  way  into  the  hands  of  the  people,  and 
there  were  evidences  that  many  who  had  plenty  of  money 
were  calculating  to  buy  from  the  companies  all  they  could 
and  hold  for  speculation.  It  was  largely  to  shut  off  specula- 
tion of  this  kind  that  the  companies  adopted  the  system  of 
doling  out  provisions  in  small  lots,  carefully  noting  how 
each  man  was  taking. 

Curious  instances  of  the  value  of  food  came  to  light 
every  day.  Two  men  arriving  early  in  June  brought  in  four 
hundred  dozen  eggs,,  which  they  had  collected  on  the  way. 
Within  eight  hours  they  sold  nearly  all  of  them  at  four  dol- 
lars a  dozen  in  gold  dust,  and  they  had  a  fair  working  capital 
right  away.  Bacon  was  then  selling  at  sixty-five  cents  per 
pound,  but  flour  held  at  twelve  dollars  per  hundred;  indeed, 
flour  seemed  to  be  the  cheapest  article,  except  gold,  on  the 
market. 

When  the  question  of  supplies  began  to  assume  a  very 
serious  character  many  bright  men  who  had  brought  in  large 
outfits  saw  a  chance  to  dispose  of  a  part  of  them  for  interest 
in  claims.  Old  miners  who  could  not  secure  provisions 
enough  for  the  winter,  and  who  realized  that  it  would  be 
cheaper  and  better  for  them  to  dispose  of  a  part  of  their 
rights  for  food  rather  than  leave  their  claims  and  endure 
the  dangers  of  a  journey  up  or  down  the  river,  made  such 
arrangements,  and  it  was  a  very  fortunate  thing  for  some  of 
the  newcomers. 

Some  of  those  wlio  had  thrown  away  their  jirovisions 
on  tlie  passes,  or  had  disposed  of  them  earlier  on  the  trnil 
in  order  to  get  through,  then  saw  men  who  had  arrived 
somewhat  later  pick  up  choice  claims  that  their  money 
would  not  have  bought.  One  fellow  liad  six  boxes  of 
candles,  wliieh  were  very  scarce.     He  sf)hl  off  a  lot  rtf  lliciii 


478  LINING  UP   TO  BUY   PROVISIONS 

at  n  dollar  cacli,  and  obtained  besides  some  good  interests  in 
claims  on  (^^uartz  and  Hunker  creeks. 

Too  many  on  their  arrival  at  Dawson  made  no  prepara- 
tions for  the  winter,  and  it  was  difficult  to  make  them  realize 
the  kind  of  weather  that  was  before  them.  There  was 
plenty  of  work,  and  money  in  abundance,  so  everything 
looked  rosy  to  many  who  were  so  constituted  that  they 
would  have  difficulty  in  taking  care  of  themselves  any- 
where. 

When  the  stampede  "  for  grub  "  really  began  it  had 
about  the  same  effect  on  the  stores  which  a  run  has  on  a 
bank.  They  closed  their  doors,  and  but  one  was  open  for 
sales  in  small  quantities.  When  the  last  two  steamers  up 
arrived  from  St.  ^Michael  bringing  about  a  thousand  tons  of 
provisions,  extra  offices  were  opened  to  receive  winter 
orders,  and  the  rush  to  get  them  in  resembled  the  opening 
of  a  box-office  sale  for  some  great  theatrical  attraction. 
Hundreds  stood  in  the  long  lines.  One  man  told  me  he 
waited  for  three  hours  before  he  could  get  his  order  in,  and 
then  he  did  not  receive  the  goods,  though  he  had  to  pay  cash 
in  advance.  The  orders,  however,  were  guaranteed.  All 
this  time  men  were  coming  in  daily,  many  of  whom,  in  the 
rush  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  over  the  passes,  had  thrown 
away  their  provisions  or  sold  them  at  Dyea  or  Skagway,  ex- 
pecting to  stock  up  at  Dawson. 

The  day  before  the  steamer  left  Dawson,  the  North 
American  Transportation  and  Trading  Company  closed  its 
doors.  A  notice  was  posted  announcing  that  nothing  would 
pass  over  its  counters  until  the  arrival  of  another  steamer 
with  supplies. 

But  the  days  passed  and  no  steamer  came.  The  people 
eagerly  watched  the  river,  hoping  to  hear  the  familiar 


STEAMERS   GROUNDED   ON  THE   BAR  479 

sound  of  tlie  whistle  announcing  one  of  the  little  steamers, 
and  to  see  it  come  around  the  bend  of  the  stream,  but  they 
waited  in  vain. 

About  the  middle  of  August  the  two  companies  had  a 
conference  and  they  estimated  that  there  were  about  five 
thousand  five  hundred  people  then  in  the  Klondike  district, 
a  large  number  of  whom  were  wholly  without  outfits  and 
unprepared  for  the  winter.  The  North  American  Com- 
pany had  four  hundred  paid  orders  unfilled,  and  no  pro- 
visions there  with  which  to  fill  them.  The  Commercial 
Company  had  about  five  hundred  paid  orders,  one-third  of 
which  had  been  filled,  and  there  was  enough  on  hand  to  fill 
about  fifty  more.  Plenty  of  provisions,  they  said,  were 
down  the  river,  but  the  water  was  very  low.  They  did  not 
know  then  that  the  boats  were  stuck  below  Fort  Yukon,  and 
could  not  possibly  get  up.  At  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company's  office  a  crowd  sometimes  numbering  fifty  was 
daily  lined  up  in  front  of  the  doors,  begging  for  an  ()])])or- 
tunity  to  purchase  sustinence  for  themselves  and  their  part- 
ners at  the  mines.  As  fast  as  one  man  was  waited  on,  the 
doors  were  unlocked  and  another  admitted.  Then  the  click 
of  the  locks  would  be  heard,  bolts  would  slide  to  \)\aco  to 
prevent  a  raid  from  the  desperate  men,  and  a  sack  of  flour 
with  a  few  pounds  of  bacon  would  be  doled  out.  T^To  one 
could  secure  much  more  than  enough  to  sustain  life  for  a 
few  weeks.  To  those  who  were  preparing  to  leave,  food 
enough  was  given  to  last  them  over  the  trail  to  salt  water, 
if  everything  went  well.  Everything  possible  was  being 
done  to  get  people  to  leave. 

During  the  first  two  weeks  in  September  several  at- 
tempts were  made  by  no  less  than  four  steamers  to  cross  the 
1)ars  abovf^  Fort  Yukon.      They  failed  sim|)ly  because  it  is 


480  CAPTAIN  Hanson's  fruitless  errand 

impossible  to  get  a  three-foot  steamer  over  a  twenty-two-incli 
bar,  that  being  the  depth  as  measured.  Even  had  they 
gotten  over  the  bar  the  situation  would  not  have  been 
greatly  improved,  for  they  were  carrying  in  men  who  would 
need  most  of  the  provisions  they  had  aboard. 

Captain  Hanson  went  down  from  Dawson  on  a  steam 
barge  expecting  to  pick  up  the  barge  of  another  steamer, 
and  on  his  arrival  at  Fort  iTukon  he  loaded  his  own 
barge  with  a  cargo.  He  made  the  most  persistent  at- 
tempts to  get  over  the  bar  so  as  to  return,  but  failed. 
Half  the  cargo  was  removed  for  a  second  attempt,  but  that 
failed.  Then  he  started  with  no  load  at  all,  but  that  time 
also  failed,  so  uncertain  are  these  bars  in  the  bed  of  the 
Yukon.     His  steamer  drew  but  twenty-four  inches. 

Having  thus  failed  to  return  with  an  empty  boat,  the 
captain  deemed  it  his  duty  to  return  to  Dawson  and  inform 
the  i^eople  of  the  situation.  He  left  the  fort  in  a  patched 
bark  canoe,  and  the  next  night  was  obliged  to  send  Indians 
back  with  the  following  message: 

"  The  bottom  dropped  out  of  canoe  and  only  my  shoul- 
ders are  dry.  I  am  at  the  cache  twenty-eight  miles  above 
Fort  Yukon.  Get  another  squaw  canoe  and  send  it  up  as 
soon  as  you  can." 

There  was  no  other  canoe  to  be  had,  so  an  arrangement 
was  made  w^ith  two  fellows  who  were  going  up  the  Yukon 
to  pick  Hanson  up. 

Day  after  day  the  people  at  Dawson  watched  the  river 
for  the  steamers  wdiicli  they  thought  must  surely  come. 
The  toot  of  a  steamboat  whistle  w^ould  have  brought  the 
whole  population  to  the  river  bank,  eager  to  welcome  the 
arrival  of  the  much-needed  supplies.  The  river,  which  had 
frozen  over  a  little  once,  opened  again,  and  many  w^ondered 
what  was  the  trouble. 


LITTLE   FOOD,    BUT    PLENTY    OF   WHISKY  481 

On  September  26tli  Captain  Hanson  arrived  in  his  In- 
dian canoe,  and  told  the  people  that  it  wonld  be  an  impos- 
sibility for  the  boats  to  get  up  before  the  river  closed  for 
good.  Then  the  situation  dawned  upon  them  in  all  its  ap- 
palling reality. 

Men  who  had  been  exulting  in  their  success,  and  were 
counting  upon  returning  in  the  spring  with  sacks  of  gold, 
suddenly  realized  that  to  remain  till  then  they  must  run  the 
risk  of  starvation.  In  the  saloons,  which  were  the  public 
resorts,  men  congregated  and  talked  over  the  situation. 
There  was  whisky  enough.  Large  as  was  the  consumption, 
there  was  the  fact  that  a  full  winter's  supply  of  liquor  had 
l)een  brouglit  in  somehow,  but  not  half  enough  food. 

Among  the  more  industrious  miners  who  wished  to  stay 
and  work  their  claims  the  disadvantage  of  having  so  many 
non-producers  in  the  place  was  very  apparent,  and  there 
was  a  feeling  that  such  should  go,  if  any.  Three  or  four 
liundred  gamblers  and  sporting  men  had  come  in  during  the 
summer,  and  some  advocated  driving  them  out  and  dividing 
the  provisions  equally  among  the  workers.  The  thirty 
mounted  police  at  Dawson,  who  were  practically  without 
food  for  the  winter,  were  said  to  be  openly  in  favor  of  such 
a  step. 

Up  to  the  first  of  September  the  new  arrivals  had  aver- 
aged from  three  to  twenty  per  day,  and  there  seemed  to  be 
every  prospect  that  this  rate  would  be  continued  far  into  the 
winter.  The  old  miners,  and  those  used  to  the  Yukon  win- 
ters, began  to  appreciate  the  dangers  of  the  coming  situa- 
tion. When  the  river  rose  a  little,  winter  was  settling 
down,  and  doubts  were  entertained  as  to  the  possibility  of 
more  boats  reaching  Dawson.  Tlicrf  were  at  least  three 
hundred  men  working  in  the  gulches,  and  in  (lie  hills  were 


482  THE   RIVER   TO   BLAME 

several  prospectors  who  knew  nothing  of  the  situation,  and 
wonhl  not  till  thev  came  in  for  provisions.  They  were  de- 
pending- on  the  company  stores  for  supplies. 

The  situation  became  the  great  subject  of  discussion  in 
the  city  of  cabins  and  tents.  It  was  evident  that  a  large 
number,  even  a  thousand,  could  winter  safely  at  Circle  City, 
four  hundred  miles  below,  for  to  that  place  they  could  draw 
their  supplies  from  Fort  Yukon  by  dog  teams.  There  were 
at  least  five  hundred  people  who  intended  going  down  the 
river  to  St.  Michael,  and  from  there  home,  but  when  that 
avenue  was  closed  earlier  than  expected  by  the  freezing  of 
the  river,  some  other  steps  had  to  be  taken,  for  some  of  these 
had  already  sold  off  their  stock  of  provisions  and  could  not 
buy  them  back. 

There  was  considerable  complaint  that  the  trading  com- 
panies had  allowed  whisky  to  take  too  large  a  place  in  the 
cargoes  of  their  Yukon  boats,  and  there  was  no  doubt  as  to 
the  large  quantity  brought  in,  but  there  ^vould  have  been 
serious  complaints  in  various  quarters  had  this  failed  to  ar- 
rive. Had  the  river  permitted  the  boats  to  come  up  there 
would  have  been  provisions  enough  for  the  people  to  have 
worked  through  the  winter  somehoAv. 

It  was  estimated  that  during  the  summer  there  had  been 
brought  to  Dawson  about  eighteen  hundred  tons  of  food, 
clothing,  and  other  merchandise.  Meanwhile,  nearly  every 
one  on  Circle  City,  Forty  Mile,  and  Fort  Cudahy  had  come 
to  Dawson.  It  was  estimated  that  there  were  something  like 
six  thousand  people  in  the  city  and  about  the  adjacent  coun- 
try who  expected  to  depend  upon  Dawson  for  supplies. 
Boats  were  arriving  at  the  rate  of  five  a  day,  and  each  aver- 
aged about  three  passengers.  jSTot  more  than  one  in  ten  of 
these  parties  carried  provisions  enough  to  keep  them  through 
the  winter. 


THE   SITUATION   BECOMES  ALARMING  483 

At  Fort  Yukon,  about  three  hundred  and  twenty-five 
miles  from  Dawson,  there  was  about  six  hundred  tons  of 
provisions.  The  question  was  a  very  simple  one.  As 
"  grub  "  could  not  be  brought  to  Dawson  for  everybody, 
some  of  us  must  go  down  to  Fort  Yukon  for  it,  or  go  out  by 
the  coast  and  winter  in  the  United  States. 

Captain  Hanson  gathered  the  miners  together  and  made 
a  short  speech  to  the  effect  that  it  would  be  vain  to  hope  for 
the  arrival  of  the  river  vessels,  and  that  his  company  had 
done  the  best  it  could  to  supply  the  increased  number  of 
mine-owners,  but  that  there  were  still  more  than  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  unfilled  orders  on  their  books.  All  he  could 
do  was  to  advise  people  to  go  to  Fort  Yukon,  where  there  was 
plenty  of  food,  and  live  through  the  winter.  He  told  them 
they  could  find  employment  there  cutting  cord  WQod  for  the 
use  of  the  steamers  next  year.  He  had,  he  said,  done  all  he 
could  to  relieve  the  situation,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
thousand  people  who  had  rushed  in  without  sufficient  sup- 
plies all  would  have  been  well. 

The  situation  as  regards  the  other  company  was  as  bad, 
or  worse.  Indeed,  the  company,  in  anticipation  of  the  ar- 
rival of  the  boats,  had  taken  a  lot  of  orders,  and  with  them 
the  miners'  money,  and  when  the  time  came  they  could  not 
be  filled.  There  was  much  grumbling.  Some  spread  the 
idea  that  the  company  had  a  good  stock  of  provisions,  but 
were  holding  off  for  speculation,  and  the  warehouse  was 
threatened  for  a  time.  Only  the  fear  of  the  Canadian 
police  prevented  an  attack  upon  it.  But  it  became  evident 
that  the  companies  had  no  stores  to  speak  of.  The  only 
thing  that  could  possibly  be  bought  Avas  sugar,  baking- 
powder,  spices,  and  a  little  dried  fruit. 

Major  Davis,  in  command  of  the  police,  said:     '' Tn- 


484  VALUABLE   MEMBERS   OF  THE   COMMUNITY 

stances  have  occurred  in  this  territory  before  when  supplies 
ran  short,  and  it  was  necessary  to  form  police  and  civic  com- 
munities to  seize  all  provisions  in  camp  and  issne  weekly 
rations.  It  was  done  at  Forty  Mile  post  two  years  ago. 
Tlie  necessity  for  similar  action  is  beginning  to  be  apparent 
in  this  case,  and  I  wonld  not  be  surprised  to  see  an  uprising, 
and  the  non-producers  ordered  to  leave  the  camp  and  go 
down  the  river  to  Fort  Yukon,  where  there  is  plenty  of  grub, 
and  the  provisions  in  this  camp  seized  and  distributed.  My 
force  is  destitute  of  winter  supplies." 

Apparently,  it  would  have  required  only  an  uprising  of 
this  sort  to  have  secured  the  co-operation  of  the  police.  An- 
other unpleasant  phase  of  the  situation  consisted  in  the  lack 
of  dogs,  and  provisions  for  them.  Any  one  would  have 
said,  to  have  seen  the  swarms  of  dogs  which  were  always  a 
feature  of  Dawson,  that  there  were  altogether  too  many  for 
a  camp  facing  starvation,  but  these  dogs  were  kept  busy 
most  of  the  time  going  to  and  from  the  mines,  dragging 
slabs  for  the  fires  to  thaw  the  frozen  ground,  and  logs  to 
build  miners'  cabins.  And  when  it  became  evident  that 
there  would  have  to  be  an  exodus  on  accoimt  of  the  food 
situation,  dogs  were  w^orth  their  weight  in  gold. 

To  add  to  the  complications,  a  good  many  of  the  mine- 
owners  were  deeply  in  debt  for  claims  they  had  purchased, 
the  obligations,  which  bore  an  enormous  rate  of  interest, 
falling  due  the  next  May  or  June.  They  had  leased  some 
of  their  claims  on  lays,  and  they  were  quietly  falling  back 
and  waiting  for  the  lessees  to  dig  the  gold  out  to  liquidate 
their  indebtedness  by  the  time  it  became  due.  The  men 
on  lays,  unless  they  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  provide  a 
sufficient  stock  of  provisions,  were  in  time  compelled  to 
throw  up  their  profitable  contracts  and  run  with  others  for 


IN   A    POSITION   TO    DICTATE  485 

food.  This  left  some  mine-owners  in  a  very  threatening 
position,  for  they  might  have  to  turn  the  property  back  to 
the  mortgagees. 

September  13th  a  large  number  of  the  owners  held  a 
secret  meeting  at  the  junction  of  Eldorado  and  Bonanza 
creeks,  and  promulgated  a  notice  to  the  effect  that  after 
October  1st,  and  to  June  1st,  the  wages  for  miners  would  be 
one  dollar  an  hour,  instead  of  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents. 
But  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours  the  situation  changed, 
for  the  men  who  had  food  could  almost  dictate  their  wages 
and  the  owners  were  glad  to  get  them  at  fifteen  dollars  a 
day.  There  was  the  possibility  that  they  might  have  to 
pay  more. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

THE  GREAT  EXODUS  FROM  DAWSON  — DOWN  THE  RIVER 
TO  CIRCLE  CITY  AND  FORT  YUKON  — SAD  FATE  OF 
SOME  OF  THE  EXILES  — A  BURIAL  UNDER  THE 
ARCTIC  SKY. 

A  Great  Day  in  Dawson  —  Drawing  Lots  to  Determine  WTio  Should 
Go — The  Restaurants  All  Closed  —  Effort  to  Go  Up  the  River 
Thirty-five  Miles  in  Seven  Days  —  The  Party  Finally  Returns  — 
People  Pouring  in  While  Others  Were  Pouring  out  —  Arriving 
With  Worthless  Outfits  or  None  at  All  —  Swept  By  Dawson  in  the 
Running  Ice  —  Petty  Larceny  Becomes  Frequent  —  Food  Scarce  at 
Circle  City  —  Men  Arrive  from  Circle  City  Badly  Frozen  —  Suffer- 
ing on  the  River  —  Exiles  Badly  Frozen  —  Sad  Fate  of  Y'oung 
Anderson  —  Wounded,  His  Friends  Dragged  Him  on  a  Rude 
Sled  —  Dying  within  Sight  of  Circle  City  —  Thawing  an  Arctic 
Grave  —  The  Funeral  —  Extracts  from  His  Diary  —  Strong  Miners 
Weep  —  The  Scarcity  of  Supplies — A  Restaurant  Price  List  —  A 
Fresh  Supply  of  Caribou  Meat  —  Curtailing  the  Work  on  the 
Mines  — Those  Left  Pull  Through. 

THAT  was  a  great  day  at.  Dawson  when  the  miners 
fully  realized  the  situation  and  immediately  began 
to  make  their  calculations  for  the  wdnter.  After 
the  government  officials  had  posted  their  bulletin  warning 
the  miners  to  get  out  of  the  country  if  they  valued  their 
lives,  many  of  the  men  pooled  what  provisions  they  had  and 
drew  lots  to  decide  who  were  to  remain  for  the  winter  and 
who  were  to  attempt  the  trip  to  Fort  Yukon  or  the  coast. 

It  was  a  question  which  were  taking  the  greatest  risks, 
those  who  remained  prepared  to  spend  several  months  on 

(486) 


THINNING  OUT   THE   POPULATION  487 

short  rations,  or  those  who  faced  the  hard  thirty-days  trip 
with  just  enough  provisions  to  last  them  if  not  delayed,  for 
those  to  whose  lot  it  fell  to  leave  the  country  were  grub- 
staked for  the  trip.  In  this  way  the  population  was  thinned 
out  Some  who  had  to  go  started  for  Fort  Yukon,  and 
others  for  the  coast.  Later,  others  started  out  for  Fort 
Yukon,  hoping  to  get  back  to  Dawson  with  supplies. 

The  exodus  was  stimulated  by  two  facts,  the  first  being 
that  there  might  be  a  famine  if  all  stayed,  and  the  second, 
that  those  who  had  provisions,  and  at  the  same  time  had 
claims,  could  sell  their  provisions  at  greatly  advanced  prices 
to  those  who  wished  to  stay  and  work.  Thus  they  were  in- 
sured a  profit  on  what  they  could  bring  in  on  their  return, 
and  a  profit  from  the  working  of  their  claims  while  they 
were  out. 

The  restaurants  all  closed  in  the  fall,  though  one  ran  on 
for  several  days  on  a  supply  of  beefsteak  which  sold  at  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  meal,  and  the  meals  were  not  large. 
A  man  with  a  truck  load  of  potatoes,  flour,  and  bacon  couhl 
have  bought  a  good  interest  in  any  of  the  rich  chums  of  the 
richest  streams.  A  little  steamer  named  Kiii]:iil\  which 
was  to  run  up  to  the  Felly  River  where  the  Dalton  trail 
begins,  was  called  into  service  by  men  who  oifered  as  high 
as  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  be  taken  aboard  for  her 
journey  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles.  She  was 
as  crazy  a  craft  as  there  was  on  the  Yukon,  about  fifty  feet 
long,  and  of  thirty  horse-power  only.  She  was  old,  rickety, 
and  pretty  much  broken  down.  She  had  just  before  made 
two  trips  up  to  the  Felly,  taking  over  eight  days  at  eacli  trip. 
Ordinarily,  one  would  not  have  cared  to  make  a  sliorl  I  rip 
on  her  in  smooth  water,  yet  tlicre  were  severiil  iiicii  wlio 
actually  wanted  to  pay  a  big  price  for  lier  to  hike  licr  down 


iSS  A   YUKON    "GREYHOUND  ' 

the  Yukon  to  St.  Michael.  They  were  persuaded  from  this 
foolhardy  undertaking,  and  so  they  obtained  her  for  the  trip 
u])  the  river  to  Selkirk,  expecting  to  take  the  trail  there. 

She  left  with  about  fifteen  passengers,  and  in  a  few  days 
back  they  came  to  Dawson.  They  had  spent  seven  days  on 
the  steamer  and  had  gone  only  thirty-five  miles.  Ilcr 
machinery  broke  down  from  one  to  three  times  a  day,  and 
she  had  a  faculty,  strong  in  any  Yukon  steamer,  for  con- 
stantly running  aground. 

On  one  occasion,  but  apparently  through  mismanage- 
ment, she  was  driven  head-on  to  a  rocky  shore  where  her 
bow  was  violently  torn  away  and  her  frame  severely  shaken. 
But  for  the  double  protection  in  her  bows  she  surely  would 
have  sunk.  At  the  end  of  the  seventh  day,  suiTounded  by 
an  ice  pack,  the  trip  was  given  up  and  they  returned.  The 
only  thing  left  was  to  drift  down  the  river,  or,  if  wanting  to 
get  out  of  the  country  entirely,  to  pole  up  the  stream  with 
its  freezing  waters  and  floating  ice.  ]\[any  Avho  had  had  ex- 
perience on  the  stream,  and  had  a  few  provisions,  preferred 
to  wait  and  make  the  trip  after  the  river  Avas  thoroughly 
frozen  and  the  snow,  wdiicli  now  was  falling,  had  grown 
hard. 

It  would  have  been  an  amusing  scene,  had  it  not  savored 
so  much  of  the  pathetic,  to  watch  the  people  who  were  pour- 
ing into  Dawson  from  the  trail,  while  others  were  pour- 
ing out  the  same  way.  These  people  had  suffered  all  man- 
ner of  hardships  on  the  journey,  and  many  of  them,  in  their 
haste  to  get  over,  had  disposed  of  their  outfits.  Their  im- 
pression seemed  to  be  that  so  long  as  wages  were  fifteen  dol- 
lars a  day,  they  could  not  want  for  anythtng.  It  was  some 
time  before  they  could  be  made  to  understand  the  peculiar 
difficulties  of  the  situation.     They  could  not  get  over  the 


AN  APPALLING   PROSPECT  489 

impression  that  where  there  was  so  much  gold  there  must 
be  enough  to  eat. 

It  is  a  pitiable  situation  when  men  are  huddled  together 
in  a  little  place  in  the  Arctic  regions,  in  need  of  food,  offer- 
ing any  amount  of  money  for  it,  and  unable  to  get  it  because 
there  is  no  chance  for  any  to  come  into  the  country  for  six 
or  eight  months. 

Few  of  those  who  came  in  had  packed  their  outfits  cor- 
rectly. Each  month's  supplies  should  be  put  up  separately 
and  labeled,  and  then  if  one  loses  a  part  of  his  supplies  the 
variety  is  not  sacrified.  Many  lost  their  flour  and  saved 
their  baking-powder,  or  vice  versa.  Provisions  should  be 
put  in  water-tight  sacks  of  not  over  fifty  pounds  each.  The 
covering  should  be  made  of  good  ducking,  capable  of  being 
handled  roughly,  of  standing  out  in  the  rain,  if  necessary, 
and  of  not  being  torn  by  limbs,  snags,  and  the  like.  Many 
a  man  reached  the  river  only  to  find  his  beans  damp,  flour  a 
pasty  mass,  and  his  dried  fruit  fit  only  to  give  to  the  all- 
devoimng  dogs. 

Many  boats,  containing  men  who  had  been  working  for 
many  days  and  enduring  great  hardships,  came  floating- 
down  the  river  in  the  ice  and  were  unable  to  make  a  landing. 
Once  eight  boats  loaded  with  provisions,  but  with  no  pas- 
sengers, went  floating  by.  The  owners  had  doubtless  left 
them  to  go  ashore  and  camp  for  the  night,  and  meanwhile 
the  ice  had  broken  and  taken  the  boats  down  the  river.  Tt 
was  useless  to  try  to  reach  the  boats  at  that  time. 

Matters  assumed  a  very  serious  aspect  by  the  middle  of 

October.      There  were  over  a  thousand  people,  including 

women  and  children,  living  in  tents  in  Dawson,  and  they 

were  arriving  at  the  rate  of  seventy-five  a  day.     Many  of 

them  had  provisions  enough  to  last  them  onlv  a  part  of  the 
89 


490  A   FROST-BITTEN   POET 

winter.  A  heavy  snow  was  falling,  and  beans,  flour,  bacon, 
and  other  provisions  were  selling  from  one  dollar  and 
twenty-five  cents  to  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  pound. 
The  few  head  of  cattle  which  Dalton  had  brought  in  over  his 
trail  only  temporarily  relieved  the  situation. 

Petty  larceny  began  to  be  frequent  in  a  place  where  but 
a  little  before  a  man  could  leave  anything  lying  about  with 
safety.  But  no  one  stole  gold.  People  were  stumbling 
over  that  and  never  thinking  about  it.  They  began  to  steal 
from  caches.  One  man  was  detected  in  stealing  from  a 
cache  and  shot  through  the  leg,  but  he  was  not  a  thief 
naturally.     The  food  situation  had  made  him  desperate. 

Altogether  about  nine  hundred  people  had  left  Dawson 
by  the  first  of  December,  and  as  nine-tenths  of  these  had 
hardly  more  than  three  months'  provisions,  the  situation  at 
Dawson  was  considerably  relieved.  So  many  went  down  to 
Circle  City  or  Fort  Yukon  that  many  began  to  fear  that 
they  Avould  need  all  the  provisions  at  the  latter  point,  and 
that  the  spring  supply  for  Dawson  would  therefore  be  late 
in  coming  up.  When  the  heavy  detachment  reached  Circle 
City  the  stock  there  at  once  became  so  short  that  most  of 
them  had  to  procure  sleds  and  continue  their  journey,  the 
river  being  frozen.  The  hundred  or  so  people  at  Circle 
City  were  calculating  to  send  to  Fort  Yukon  for  provisions. 

Joaquin  Miller,  the  poet  of  the  Sierras,  who  had  been 
among  the  summer  arrivals,  reached  Dawson  from  Circle 
City  on  December  4th,  very  badly  frozen,  having  lost  a  part 
of  the  great  toe  of  his  left  foot,  his  left  ear  sloughing  off, 
and  both  cheeks  frozen.  He  had  left  Circle  City  wnth  a 
party  thirty-five  days  before  without  dogs,  as  there  were 
none  left  there.  They  worked  along  all  right  till  tliey 
reached  Forty  Mile,  where  they  encountered  a  blizzard. 


SUFFERING  AND  FORTITUDE  493 

From  that  place  they  endured  all  manner  of  hardships. 
Circle  City  was  not  a  bed  of  roses  for  the  miners  there. 

Reports,  he  said,  had  reached  Circle  City  of  miners 
being  frozen  in  between  Dawson  and  that  place.  One 
miner  was  brought  in  so  badly  frozen  that  he  had  to  have 
his  feet  amputated.  Such  was  the  fate  of  some  of  those 
who  had  left  Dawson  just  before  the  winter's  fury  set  in. 

Among  those  who  had  started  down  the  river  in  boats 
was  a  young  man  named  Anderson,  who  belonged  in  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.  On  the  way  down,  and  when  seventy  miles 
from  the  nearest  habitation,  he  accidentally  shot  himself  in 
the  abdomen.  He  pushed  on  with  grim  determination, 
though  suffering  great  agony,  but  when  thirty  miles  from 
Circle  City  a  cold  snap  came  on  and  froze  the  river.  The 
party  with  him  saw  that  it  was  necessary  to  abandon  the 
boat,  and  so  they  rigged  up  a  rough  sled  and  started  to  pull 
the  wounded  man  over  the  ice.     It  was  terribly  cold. 

Day  by  day  his  strength  failed,  and  dreary  were  the 
camps  they  made  on  the  frozen  shores  of  the  river.  His 
two  companions  toiled  bravely  on,  but  he  kept  sinking 
lower  and  lower,  and  when  almost  within  sight  of  their 
destination  he  passed  away.  Two  hours  later  they  drew 
the  body  into  Circle  City  on  the  rude  sled. 

Out  in  the  little  cemetery  was  piled  a  heap  of  wood, 
and  soon  it  was  blazing  fiercely  in  the  Arctic  winds;  for 
graves  must  be  dug  here  —  if  they  are  dug  at  all  —  as  gold 
is  mined,  by  thawing  the  ground.  As  night  settled  down 
the  glowing  coals  shone  out  brightly  in  the  darkness.  More 
wood  was  heaped  on,  and  little  by  little  the  grave  was  sunk 
in  the  icy  soil. 

Then  came  the  burial.  There  was  no  minister,  no  choir, 
no  melodious  anthem,  no  words  that  told  of  the  Christian's 


404  THE  DIARY  READ  BESIDE  THE  GRAVE 

hope  in  a  glorious  resuiTection.  Rough  miners  carried  the 
body  to  its  last  resting  place,  and  as  they  stood  there  rev- 
erently some  extracts  from  the  young  man's  diary  were 
read.  He  had  kept  it  almost  to  the  last  moment,  and  there 
were  many  references  to  his  mother,  to  his  home,  and  his 
hardships,  and  between  the  lines  could  be  read  a  record 
of  the  indomitable  courage  and  the  filial  love  of  the  man 
who  had  sought  his  fortune  on  the  Yukon. 

Strong  miners,  muffled  in  their  heavy  winter  coats,  stood 
\vith  tears  in  their  eyes  while  the  words  were  read,  and  then 
the  frozen  clods  were  shoveled  into  the  icy  grave.  There 
are  other  graves  on  the  Yukon  —  many  others.  And  there 
are  dead  without  graves. 

There  was  a  party  of  two  or  three  hundred  between 
Forty  Mile  and  Circle  City  when  the  river  suddenly  froze, 
and  they  were  compelled  to  abandon  their  boats  and  push 
on,  almost  wholly  unprepared  for  the  hardships  of  such  a 
journey.  Some  of  them  suffered  severely.  Ten  or  a  dozen 
women  were  subjected  to  the  ordeal  of  losing  their  boats 
and  taking  the  long,  wearisome  tramp  to  Circle  City  in  the 
biting  cold. 

The  prices  of  all  supplies  continued  to  rise  till  they  were 
hardly  within  the  reach  of  those  who  had  not  rich  gold 
mines  to  depend  upon.  Flour  was  wortb  from  seventy-five 
dollars  to  one  hundred  dollars  for  fifty-pound  sacks;  beans, 
one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  pound;  candles,  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents  each,  and  very  few  of  them  at  that;  fresh  fish, 
one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  pound,  and  very  scarce. 
Cooking  utensils,  too,  were  none  too  plentiful,  men  satisfy- 
ing themselves  with  pieces  of  tin  for  frying  pans  and  old  tin 
cans  were  in  demand  as  coffee  pots  and  for  other  cooking 
purposes. 


Meals, 

$3.50 

Coifee,  tea,  or  chocolate. 

.50 

Sandwiches, 

.75 

Boston  baked  beans,  , 

1.00 

Pie  and  cake. 

1.00 

WORK   IN  THE   MINES  DELAYED  495 

This  was  the  sign  hanging  over  the  counter  of  one  of  the 

Dawson  restaurants  early  in  December : 

Ham  and  Eggs,  .        .        .  5.00 

Porterhouse  steak,      .        .  5.00 
Cove  oysters  fried,  and  ham 

and  eggs,         ,        .        .  9.00 

In  the  latter  part  of  November  a  large  band  of  caribou 
crossed  the  Yukon  a  few  miles  below  Dawson  in  the  migra- 
tion from  the  headwaters  of  the  White  and  Copper  rivers, 
and  Dawson  hunters  went  out  and  killed  about  fifty  head. 
This  supply  of  meat  was  a  great  relief,  and  it  sold  at  good 
figures.  Of  course  meat  can  be  kept  in  prime  condition  all 
winter  in  such  a  climate.  Though  game  was  scarce  it  could 
be  found  in  small  quantities  if  hunted  for,  and  men  who 
were  hungry  would  take  their  guns  and  start  on  hunting- 
expeditions,  seldom,  however,  going  far  from  camp. 

The  inevitable  result  of  the  scarcity  of  food  and  the 
exodus  of  people  was  to  delay  work  in  the  mines.  It  was 
useless  for  owners  to  attempt  to  work  their  shafts  unless 
they  oould  secure  provisions,  and  there  were  many  cases 
where  men  who  had  begun  to  take  out  of  their  shafts  many 
hundred  dollars  a  day,  on  coming  down  to  Dawson  and  find- 
ing that  their  bags  of  gold  could  not  buy  the  ordinary  ijeces- 
sities  of  life,  at  once  departed  either  for  the  coast  or  for 
points  down  the  river.  The  newcomers  who  had  reached 
the  city  with  barely  enough  provisions  to  feed  a  canary  bird 
were,  of  course,  of  no  use  in  the  mines.  But  the  exodus 
was  so  great  that  those  remaining  were  left  with  a  fair 
chance  of  pulling  through,  which  is  about  all  any  one  can 
expect  to  do  on  the  Yukon  during  the  winter.  From  time 
to  time  some  little  additions  in  the  way  of  meat  were  made  to 
the  supply. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

DISCOVERY  OF  GOLD  ON  MUNOOK  CREEK  — THE  SUD- 
DEN RISE  OF  RAMPART  CITY  — THRILLINO  EXPERI- 
ENCE AND  LOSS  OF  LIFE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN  TRAIL. 

A  Rival  to  Dawsou  and  the  Klondike  —  American  Territory  Preferable 
—  Old  MuDOok  and  Little  Munook  —  Taking  a  Fortune  from  a 
Small  Hole  —  Stream  Prospected  Before  —  The  First  Excitement  — 
Stampedes  from  the  Arriving  Steamboats  —  Beginnings  of  Ram- 
part City  —  Arrival  of  the  Hamilton  —  Crew  Stampedes  and  Takes 
the  Knives  and  Forks  —  A  Literary  Woman's  Rush  for  a  Claim  — 
Settling  in  the  New  Camp  —  High  Prices  for  Claims  —  Taking 
out  $1,500  in  Five  Days  — The  Fever  of  Speculation  —  Wealth  of 
a  Man  with  a  House  and  Lot  —  High  Price  of  Timber  —  The 
Rough  Trails  —  Fatal  Experience  of  Two  Yale  Graduates  — 
Spending  the  First  Night  on  Hoosier  Creek  —  Taking  Food  for 
Only  One  Day— A  Terrible  Night— Tucker  Falls  Exhausted  — 
Running  for  Help  —  Secured  at  Last  —  Returning  to  Find  His 
Companion  Dead  —  Buried  in  the  Wild  Gulch — Situation  of 
Munook  —  High  Value  of  Its  Gold. 

OXE  important  result  of  the  inability  of  the  river 
steamboats  to  reach  Dawson,  and  the  consequent 
shortage  of  provisions  there,  was  to  turn  the  at- 
tention of  gold-seekers  to  ]\Innook  Creek,  on  the  lower 
Yukon.  Those  who  could  not  reach  Dawson  from  St. 
]\richael,  and  those  who,  having'  reached  it  from  the  coast, 
could  not  stay  but  went  down  the  river,  were  naturally  at- 
tracted to  the  new  region.  Xow  that  public  attention  has 
been  turned  towards  the  Yukon  valley,  the  sudden  rise  of 
new  mining  camps  and  new  cities  may  be  expected,  for  the 

(496) 


OLD  munook's  find  497 

country  has  a  wealtli  of  gold-bearing  streams  wliicli  have 
never  been  properly  prospected,  and  many  promising  ones 
have  never  even  been  explored.  While  the  sudden  rise  of 
Dawson  was  phenomenal,  it  soon  had  a  dangerous  rival,  and 
that  on  American  territory. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  experienced  miners  will  prefer 
gold-bearing  streams  on  American  territory  if  they  can  be 
found  of  a  richness  to  compare  with  the  Klondike,  If  the 
Dominion  government  insists  on  the  restrictions  she  has 
ordained,  mines  on  American  territory,  which  are  consider- 
ably less  rich  than  those  in  the  Klondike,  will  prove  more 
attractive,  for  they  will  yield  larger  net  returns.  In  view 
of  these  facts,  the  rise  of  Kampart  City  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Lower  Ramparts  of  the  Yukon  in  the  fall  of  1897  can 
occasion  no  sui'prise,  and  it  would  not  be  strange  if  the  pre- 
dictions made  as  to  its  rivaling  Dawson  should  be  quickly 
verified. 

An  old  Indian  by  the  name  of  Munook,  a  Russian  half- 
breed,  found  large  quantities  of  gold  on  the  creek  which 
now  bears  his  name  some  time  in  August,  1896.  Accord- 
ing to  the  story  on  the  river,  some  Indians  had  informed 
Munook  that  they  had  seen  gold  on  a  branch  of  the  creek, 
and  with  his  son  he  started  in.  In  a  short  time  he  had  taken 
out  three  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  gold  from  a  hole  eight 
feet  square  and  fifteen  feet  deep.  The  stream  bad  Ix^en 
prospected  in  a  superficial  way  for  years,  and  while  gold 
was  always  found,  it  had  not  been  in  sufficient  quantities, 
for  the  conditions  were  the  same  here  as  in  other  Alaskan 
fields.  A.  layer  of  muck  covers  the  gravel  from  a  few 
inches  to  two  or  three  feet  in  thickness;  in  winter  it  is  like 
adamant,  and  in  the  summer  like  axle  grease  that  lias  been 
exposed  to  the  sun. 


408  BOLTING  FOR  THE   MOUNTAINS 

Old  Munook  and  his  son  worked  on  quietly,  taking  out 
considerable  gold,  but  nothing  was  known  about  it  by  ex- 
l>crienced  miners  till  the  boats  began  to  run  on  the  river  in 
the  spring  of  1897.  The  evident  advantages  of  the  situa- 
tion lay  in  its  nearness  to  the  base  of  supplies,  and  several 
miners  made  their  way  up  the  creeks  and  at  once  struck 
good  pay-dirt  on  Little  Munook  and  another  tributary  which 
was  called  Hunter  Creek. 

The  first  excitement  was  when  a  steamboat  loaded  with 
people  bound  for  Dawson  reached  the  mouth  of  Munook 
Creek.  Miners  there  were  looking  for  supplies,  and  when 
they  told  what  they  had  found,  the  excitement  was  so  gi'eat 
that  many  of  the  passengers  bolted  for  the  mountains  at 
once,  also  many  of  the  crew.  The  principal  creeks  were 
staked  for  some  distance,  for  the  law  which  the  miners  had 
instituted  allowed  claims  of  one  thousand  feet  in  length, 
and  from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand  feet  in  width,  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  valley. 

Observing  that  as  many  as  a  hundred  men  would  winter 
there,  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  made  preparations 
to  supply  them  with  food.  But  when  the  next  steamboat 
came  up  there  was  another  st-ampede,  some  fresh  discoveries 
having  been  made,  and  so  many  of  the  crew  left  the  boat, 
carrying  away  the  knives  and  forks,  that  ,the  passengers  left 
were  compelled  to  resort  to  their  fingers  in  eating.  On 
bed-rock  two  and  four  dollars  to  the  pan  had  been  dis- 
covered, and  nuggets  worth  ten  and  twelve  dollars  had  been 
taken  out.  The  miners  were  at  work  clearing  up  a  sightly 
place  high  up  from  the  river  for  a  town  site,  and  in  hardly 
any  time  there  was  a  town  of  tents  there.  The  Commercial 
Company  began  building  its  log  warehouse,  and  everything 
promised  to  thrive.     "WTien  the  steamer  Hamilton,  after 


THE   RISE   OF  RAMPART   CITY  499 

continuing  on  her  way  up  the  river,  went  aground  a  short 
distance  from  the  new  city,  many  more  of  the  men  came 
down  decided  to  settle  in  the  new  camp.  Many  claims  were 
staked  off  quite  near  the  city,  but  little  could  be  done  except 
at  bar  diggings  before  winter  came. 

By  the  first  of  September  the  discovery  claim  on  Little 
Munook  had  sold  for  five  thousand  dollars,  and  Rampart 
City  was  a  cluster  of  tents  on  the  hillsides,  but  the  Com- 
mercial Company  were  finishing  up  their  building  and  the 
newcomers  were  busy  putting  up  log  cabins.  The  popula- 
tion was  then  three  hundred  and  increasing  with  every  boat 
that  came  up  the  river.  Ten  days  later  all  figures  and 
values  had  quadrupled.  One  claim  on  Little  Munook  was 
held  at  fifty  thousand  dollars,  for  the  owner  of  the  adjacent 
claim  had  taken  out  one  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in 
five  days,  and  had  not  reached  bed-rock.  The  news  spread, 
and  in  a  little  time  the  recorder  had  taken  in  over  two  hun- 
dred dollars  in  registering  claims,  and  people  were  clamber- 
ing over  the  hills  in  every  direction.  A  literary  woman 
from  the  Pacific  coast  who  had  started  for  the  Klondike 
was  infected  by  the  excitement,  jumped  oif  the  boat  when  it 
reached  Rampart  City,  and  rushed  for  a  claim,  taking  the 
trail  like  a  man,  and  sleeping  on  the  ground  with  her 
blankets  wrapped  about  her. 

Gradually  the  population  approached  a  thousand,  and 
the  fever  of  speculation  was  rife.  Real  estate  offices  were 
opened  and  the  scenes  enacted  at  Dawson  a  little  earlier  were 
repeated.  Had  there  been  iio  KloiKlikc,  which  bad  become 
a  sort  of  shibboleth  on  every  one's  lips,  the  discoveries  on 
Munook  would  have  been  enough  to  have  created  a  rush 
from  the  States,  for  the  creeks  and  gidclics  are  uniiiislak- 
aldy  rich.      On  one  claiiu  two  thousand  dollars  were  taken 


500  A  BOOM  IN  REAL  ESTATE 

out  while  siiikiiic;  to  bed-rock.  On  another,  two  men  took 
out  six  huiuh-ed  dollars  in  six  days,  and  the  top  gravel 
seemed  to  be  full  as  rich  as  that  in  the  Klondike  district,  ac- 
cording to  reports  of  men  who  had  had  some  experience  in 
both  places. 

Xone  of  those  who  left  the  United  States  later  than  the 
first  of  August  to  go  by  the  water  route  arrived  at  Dawson 
City,  but  they  were  frozen  in  all  along  the  river.  Those 
who  reached  Munook  Creek,  however,  were  fortunate.  By 
the  last  of  September,  a  man  who  owned  a  house  and  lot  in 
Kampart  City  counted  himself  worth  two  thousand  dollars. 
Every  fresh  boatload  rushed  up  the  creeks  to  stake  out 
claims,  and  many  large  transactions  took  place.  By  Octo- 
ber the  new  town  had  a  population  of  over  one  thousand 
souls,  including  several  w'omen.  Lots  w'ere  selling  for  as 
high  as  one  thousand  two  hundred  dollars,  and  any  kind  of 
a  cabin  for  eight  hundred  dollars.  The  Indians  were  paid 
nine  dollars  a  day  and  board  for  building  cabins,  while  the 
wages  of  men  in  the  mines  ruled  at  iifteen  dollars  a  day. 
The  real  estate  boom  rather  outstripped  that  of  the  previous 
year  at  Dawson.  The  value  of  lots  and  buildings  sometimes 
increased  tenfold  in  a  very  few  hours.  The  reason  for  the 
excessive  price  for  building  is  that  there  is  no  wood  to  speak 
of  nearer  than  eighty  miles. 

The  trails  over  the  mountains  to  the  creeks  were  no  ex- 
ception to  such  routes  in  other  mining  regions.  Indeed,  if 
anything,  they  were  a  little  worse,  for  the  country  had  not 
been  so  traversed  by  Indians.  A  mile  seemed  as  long  as 
five  miles  in  any  ordinary  country.  It  was  a  wild  and  pre- 
cipitous region,  and  in  going  from  one  creek  to  another  it 
was  necessary  to  cross  great  divides,  tearing  through  the 
brush  or  stumbling  over  niggerheads.     Unfortunately,  as 


A  TERRIBLE  UNDERTAKING  501 

at  other  places  of  mining  excitement,  people  rushed  in  with- 
out any  adequate  idea  of  what  they  were  to  encounter,  and 
without  sufficiently  providing  for  such  a  journey.  Only  a 
dozen  miles  or  so  over  the  hills  seemed  easy. 

One  September  morning  three  young  men  started  for 
Hoosier  Creek,  about  twenty  miles  away,  to  locate  claims. 
Their  names  were  H.  B.  Tucker  of  Troy,  IST.  Y.,  J.  P.  Powell 
of  New  York  city,  and  George  M.  Reed  of  Boston.  It  was 
raining  when  they  set  out  and  growing  colder,  and  the  trails 
were  getting  worse  every  hour.  After  traveling  about 
seven  miles  Reed  sprained  his  leg,  and,  finding  that  he  would 
be  unable  to  continue  the  trip,  he  left  the  party  and  made 
his  way  back  to  town. 

Tucker  and  Powell  proceeded  on  their  way  and  reached 
a  cabin  at  the  mouth  of  Hoosier  Creek,  and  spent  the  night 
there.  They  were  wet  through,  and  as  there  was  no  stove  in 
the  cabin  they  dried  themselves  as  best  they  could  before 
an  open  fire  at  the  door  of  the  cabin.  Friday  morning  they 
started  for  the  head  of  the  creek.  They  left  their  blankets 
and  all  their  food,  except  barely  enough  for  one  day,  hav- 
ing been  told  that  they  could  make  the  trip  and  get  back  to 
the  cabin  by  evening.  The  cold  rain  continued  all  day. 
The  creek  became  very  much  swollen,  and  traveling  up  the 
gulch,  wading  through  icy  waters,  and  wandering  through 
the  swamps  and  brush  was  a  terrible  undertaking,  especially 
for  men  without  experience  in  the  country  aiul  Avithont 
knowledge  of  the  conditions.  The  two  finally  made  tlicir 
way  to  the  headwaters  of  the  creek  and  staked  their  claims, 
but  by  that  time  it  was  night  and  they  knew  it  would  be  ut- 
terly impossible  to  make  their  way  back  through  the  dark- 
ness. 

When  they  had  started  in  the  morning  Tnckor  hnd  ])iit 


502  ANOTHER  TRACiEDY 

the  day's  provisions  in  liis  liantlkcreluef,  and  he  lost  tliem 
while  wading-  the  creek.  All  they  had  left  was  four  hard- 
tacks and  a  piece  of  chocolate  to  divide  between  them. 
Most  of  this  they  had  eaten  during  the  day. 

These  two  exhausted  men  had  a  terrible  night  to  face  in 
that  wild  gulch  with  the  cold  rain  pouring  steadily  down  on 
them,  without  food,  without  shelter,  without  blankets  or 
covering  of  any  kind  except  their  soaked  and  half-frozen 
clothes.  About  tw^o  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  rain  turned 
to  snow,  and  by  dawn  the  ground  was  white.  Tucker  slept 
a  little  through  pure  exhaustion,  but  Powell  was  awake  all 
night.  As  soon  as  light  came,  the  latter  urged  Tucker  to 
start  dow^n  the  creek  before  the  snow  became  so  deep  as  to 
make  walking  impossible.  Tucker  made  a  heroic  effort  to 
respond  to  Powell's  appeal,  but  after  proceeding  a  little  way 
his  knees  gave  out  and  he  fell.  Powell  put  him  on  his  feet 
and  they  started  once  more,  but  Tucker's  strength  was  all 
gone  and  he  fell  again  and  again,  and  finally  could  go  no 
further.    He  grew  delirious  and  at  last  became  unconscious, 

Powell,  after  doing  everything  in  his  power  to  get 
Tucker  down  the  creek  to  shelter,  found  that  it  was  im- 
possible, and  at  about  seven  o'clock,  seeing  that  the  only 
chance  to  save  Tucker's  life  was  to  get  assistance,  he  placed 
him  in  as  comfortable  a  position  as  possible  and  started  down 
the  creek  shouting  for  help  and  firing  his  revolver  to  attract 
attention.  His  hope  was  to  find  a  party  of  friends  who  had 
talked  of  coming  up  Hoosier  Creek  that  day.  He  was 
finally  successful  in  his  quest,  but  not  till  some  hours  had 
passed,  and  one  of  the  party  immediately  started  back  with 
Powell  to  find  Tucker,  carrying  food  with  them.  They 
reached  him  about  one  o'clock,  but  they  were  too  late.  The 
poor  fellow  was  dead. 


A  PROMISING   GOLD   FIELD  503 

Marking  the  spot,  tliey  came  down  the  creek  to  the 
cabin,  where  Powell  rested  that  night,  and  made  his  way 
back  to  Rampart  City  the  next  day.  A  party  set  out  to  the 
place  where  Tucker  died  and  he  was  buried  there  in  the 
wild  and  lonely  gulch,  as  it  was  impossible  to  bring  his  body 
in  until  the  trail  was  in  a  better  condition. 

Tucker  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  189-1,  and  his  father  is 
editor  of  the  Troy  Press.  Powell  was  also  a  Yale  graduate. 
The  trouble  in  this  case  was  that  they  miscalculated  the  dis- 
tance that  they  could  travel  in  a  day,  and  went  utterly  un- 
prepared to  spend  a  night  in  the  mountains. 

One  may  realize  something  of  the  dangers  of  traveling 
on  Alaskan  trails  from  incidents  like  these.  Considering 
the  number  of  people  who  have  rushed  in  without  any 
proper  understanding  of  what  tramping  on  these  trails  re- 
quires, it  seems  a  miracle  that  so  few  have  perished.  Yet 
the  death  roll  is  by  no  means  a  short  one. 

Munook  Creek,  which  promises  to  be  one  of  the  richest 
gold  fields  in  Alaska,  runs  into  the  Yukon  about  nine  hun- 
dred miles  below  Dawson.  It  is  situated  below  the  bars 
which  obstruct  vessels,  and  if  the  rich  prospects  already 
found  continue,  its  chances  for  development  are  very  much 
greater  than  those  of  Dawson.  There  are  a  number  of 
small  creeks  flowing  into  the  Munook,  and  upon  nearly  all 
of  them  gold  has  been  found  near  the  surface.  Even  if 
it  is  less  rich  than  the  Klondike  it  may  pay  better,  and  cer- 
tainly people  there  will  run  less  risk  of  starvation. 

The  Munook  gold  which  has  been  assayed  has  boon 
found  to  be  of  much  greater  fineness  than  that  of  the  Klon- 
dike, which  has  proved  something  of  a  disappointment  to 
those  who  have  brought  large  quantities  of  Klondike  gold 
to  the  mints.     Munook  gold  yields  about  eighteen  dollars 


50i  THE   DIFFERENCE   IN   FAVOR   OF   MUNOOK 

to  tlie  ounce,  while  Klondike  gold  averages  about  sixteen 
dollars  to  the  ounce.  The  difference  on  twenty-five  pounds 
would  buy  a  man  a  winter's  outfit  in  Alaska.  Taking  into 
consideration  the  Canadian  restrictions  as  to  the  size  of 
claims,  as  to  royalty,  and  customs  taxes,  together  with  this 
difference  in  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  gold,  a  man  in  the 
Klondike  would  have  to  take  out  at  least  thirty  per  cent, 
more  gold  in  weight  than  at  Munook  to  net  the  same  return, 
while  living  expenses  at  Munook  should  be  much  cheaper. 


CHAPTEE  XXXVII 

WE  DECIDE  TO  LEAVE  THE  COUNTRY  —  INCIDENTS  OF 
A  HARD  JOURNEY  IN  WINTER  TO  THE  COAST  — 
THE   DEATH  OF  JOE  — MY   ESCAPE. 

Preparing  for  the  Winter  —  Our  Gold  Dust  —  Returning  to  Dawson 
We  Realize  the  Food  Situation  —  We  are  Unable  to  Secure  Pro- 
visions for  the  Winter — Selling  Our  Claims  and  Counting  Our 
Fortune  —  Down  or  Up  the  River?  —  We  Decide  to  Return  for 
a  Good  Outfit — Dogs  an  Expensive  Luxury  —  Encountering 
Wrecks  —  Difficulties  at  Lewis  River  —  Picking  up  Tales  of 
Hardship  and  Suffering  —  Hardships  of  a  Man  with  Poor  Dogs  — 
A  Young  Man  with  Frozen  Feet  Left  to  Die  in  a  Hut  —  A  Young 
Woman  Rescued  from  Death  —  Lashed  to  a  Sled  —  We  Arrive  at 
the  Cafion  —  A  Cry  from  Joe  —  Into  the  Icy  Rapids  —  Last  of 
Poor  Joe  —  I  Sit  Down  and  Cry  —  My  Awful  Predicament  —  Pro- 
visions, but  Nothing  Else  —  A  Sad  and  Lonely  Journey  —  A  Tent 
Buried  in  the  Snow  —  Saved!  —  "  Got  Any  Grub  ?  "  — Kicking  the 
Dogs  out  of  the  Snow  —  Over  the  Chilkoot  in  a  Blizzard  — 
Homeward  Bound  —  "  Poor  Joe !  " 

DURING  the  summer  and  fall  of  1897,  or  wliile  tlie 
events  narrated  in  the  preceding  chapters  were  oc- 
curing,  Joe  and  I  did  what  we  could  on  our  Klon- 
dike claim,  much  time  being  spent  in  preparations  for  drift- 
ing the  coming  winter.  Our  spring  clean-up,  while  not 
large,  because  we  had  been  nimble  to  work  as  extensively 
as  others,  and  because  we  had  poor  luck  in  finding  the  pay- 
streak  and  were  compelled  to  sink  several  holes  before  strik- 
ing rich  dirt,  was  still  good  enough  to  provide  us  with  a 

(505) 


506  CONSIDERING    OUR    DEPARTURE 

ooiufortablc  ainouiit  of  gold  di;st.  AVliile  only  the  large  for- 
tunes suddenly  amassed  by  the  few  who  had  worked  large 
fractions  of  their  claims  attracted  attention,  we,  neverthe- 
less, congratulated  ourselves  upon  our  good  fortune,  know- 
ing that  our  money  was  in  the  ground  and  could  be  taken 
out,  if  we  chose,  in  the  winter.  When  we  returned  from 
our  somewhat  unpleasant  trip  to  the  Indian  River  district, 
we  at  once  became  aware  of  the  situation  as  to  the  food 
supply  at  Dawson,  and,  as  we  had  neglected  to  lay  in  pro- 
visions early,  we  realized  that  our  hopes  of  a  prosperous  win- 
ter might  be  dashed  to  the  ground.  We  hurried  down  to 
Dawson  and  found  affairs  as  already  described.  It  was  im- 
possible to  secure  a  full  stock  of  provisions  for  the  winter, 
but  any  one  who  would  leave  the  country  could  get  enough 
for  the  trip.  To  those  who  insisted  upon  staying  a  little 
was  being  doled  out,  with  the  understanding  that  when 
enough  time  had  elapsed  for  its  consumption  another  batch 
would  be  sold.  The  possibilities  of  speculating  in  food  sup- 
plies were  carefully  guarded  against. 

Joe  and  I  reflected  and  consulted.  We  had  experienced 
a  touch  of  famine  the  previous  winter  when  but  a  few  people 
were  in  the  Klondike,  and  we  did  not  look  forward  with  any 
degree  of  satisfaction  to  the  possibility  of  something  worse. 
It  was  necessary  for  us  either  to  stay  to  hold  down  our 
claims,  or  to  find  some  one  who  would  work  them  on  shares. 
It  Avas  easy  enough  to  find  among  the  eager  newcomers  men 
who  would  make  such  an  arrangement,  but  as  they  had  no 
provisions  to  depend  upon,  and  knew  scarcely  anything 
about  mining,  they  would  be  able  to  do  little  work. 

It  so  happened  at  that  time  that  the  excitement  over  the 
Indian  River  district  was  at  a  high  point,  and  we  had  a  good 
offer  for  our  claims  there  and  also  the  claim  on  Bonanza. 


WE   DECIDE  TO   GO   TO  THE  COAST  50? 

Joe  and  I  lit  our  pipes  and  thonght.  There  were  many 
points  in  favor  of  the  bird  in  the  hand. 

"  But  there  may  be  millions  in  those  mines,"  said  Joe. 

"  Possibly,"  I  replied.  "  We  don't  know  about  that, 
but  we  do  know  that  there's  a  lot  of  frozen  muck  and  gravel 
and  hard  work  in  them.  And  we  know,  too,  that  by  next 
April  we  might  be  willing  to  trade  one  of  them  for  a  hun- 
dred of  flour." 

We  smoked  and  thought  a  little  more,  and  concluded  to 
take  the  bird  in  the  hand.  We  reckoned  that  when  we  got 
the  money  we  should  have  about  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars apiece. 

"We  can  afford  to  have  poor  luck  for  a  year  or  two,"  I 
said  to  Joe.  "  And  I  don't  feel  as  if  we  were  selling  our 
birthright,  for  there  is  plenty  of  gold  to  be  found  in  Alaska ; 
better  diggings,  I'm  thinking,  than  these  British  moose 
pastures,  especially  if  the  government  concludes  to  take  a 
large  share  of  the  profits." 

The  next  question  was  whether  we  should  go  down  or  up 
the  river.  Joe  was  inclined  to  take  the  former  course,  but 
as  his  claim  in  the  Birch  Creek  district  was  being  worked, 
and  as  we  heard  rumore  that  there  was  little  food  to  be  had  at 
Circle  City  unless  it  was  sledded  from  Fort  Yukon,  we  de- 
cided that  we  would  go  out  to  the  coast  and  in  the  spring 
bring  in  a  big  outfit.  Outfits  are  always  profitable,  and  we 
thought  there  was  money  in  the  scheme. 

But  we  were  in  no  hurry,  for  we  wished  to  wait  till  the 

ice  had  become  solid  and  the  trail  a  little  packed.     We  got 

together  our  stove,  tent  blankets,  and  other  necessities  for 

the  trip,  and  took  life  easy.     So  many  small  parties  had 

been  going  out  that  dogs  were  extremely  scarce.     T]\v  jiricc 

had  started  at  one  hundred  and  fiftv  dollars,  but  lind  <n<iii 
30 


508  FAREWELL   TO   THE   KLONDIKE 

risen  to  two  hundred  dollars,  and  when  we  began  to  think 
about  them  they  were  worth  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.     We  smoked  and  thought  again. 

"With  good  dogs  we  figured  that  we  could  reach  the  coast 
in  about  thirty  days ;  without  them  it  w^ould  take  about  forty 
under  good  conditions.  But  Alaskan  travel  is  uncertain, 
with  or  without  dogs.  One  thing,  however,  was  certain; 
the  dogs  would  eat  up  a  good  part  of  what  they  w^ould  draw 
before  they  reached  the  coast  unless  we  made  remarkably 
good  time,  so  we  concluded  to  save  our  money,  even  if  we 
lost  some  time,  and  draw  the  sleds  oui-selves. 

So  one  morning  late  in  Xovember  we  bade  good-bye  for 
a  time  to  Dawson  and  the  Klondike,  and  started  for  the 
coast  in  a  blinding  snow  storm.  The  mercury  bottles  were 
frozen  solid.  The  river  was  rougher  than  the  rocky  road 
to  Dublin.  It  had  frozen  once,  then  broken  up  and  frozen 
again  so  that  it  was  all  humps  and  bumps,  and  the  only  way 
to  maintain  a  tolerably  smooth  course  w^as  to  cross  back  and 
forth  where  the  way  seemed  to  open  out  best.  In  spite  of 
every  precaution  the  sleds  were  continually  overturning 
while  we  were  slipping  and  sprawling.  Parties  with  dogs 
fared  even  worse.  The  dogs  could  go  anywhere,  but  the 
sleds  followed  them  sometimes  right  side  up,  but  more  often 
on  one  side.  Many  sleds  were  broken.  Soon  many  of  the 
dogs  had  badly  lacerated  feet,  and  in  some  cases  they  were 
frozen,  so  that  we  were  rather  glad  we  had  concluded  to  de- 
pend upon  ourselves,  though  the  dog  teams  quickh'  got 
ahead  of  us  and  others  overtook  us. 

All  the  way  from  Dawson  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pelly 
River  the  river  was  so  rough  that  dogs  were  hardly  able  to 
haul  more  than  enough  to  last  them  to  the  coast,  and  it  was 
hard,  cold  drudgery  for  Joe  and  me.     In  some  places  the 


MILD   WEATHER  509 

ice  was  piled  fifteen  feet  high.  All  the  way  along  we  en- 
countered the  wrecks  of  boats  which  had  been  abandoned 
when  the  river  closed,  the  parties  pushing  on  with  only 
barely  enough  to  keep  them  alive  on  the  trail. 

We  worked  along  slowly,  and  when  we  had  gone  a  dozen 
miles  it  seemed  as  if  we  had  gone  a  hundred.  Men  with 
frozen  cheeks,  noses,  fingers,  and  feet  were  encountered, 
and  occasionally  one  in  a  very  bad  fix,  but  we  managed  to 
get  along  very  comfortably  till  we  came  to  the  Lewis  Kiver. 

The  current  of  this  stream  is  so  rapid,  and  the  weather  up 
to  this  time  had  been  so  mild,  that  it  was  only  partly  frozen 
over,  and  in  many  places  it  was  full  of  rushing  and  crushing 
ice  cakes.  When  I  say  mild  weather  I  mean,  of  course, 
mild  for  Alaska.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  mercury  had  not 
thawed  for  a  couple  of  weeks.  We  speak  of  mild  weather 
up  there  in  the  winter  when  it  averages  about  fifty  below 
zero.  Wherever  the  ice  jams  were,  the  ice  was  piled  in 
cakes  as  high  as  six-story  buildings,  sloping  up  gradually  on 
one  side  and  breaking  off  in  sheer  precipices  on  the  other. 
It  made  it  much  easier  traveling  coming  out  than  going  in. 
The  current  setting  down  the  river  runs  the  ice  in  such  a 
way  that  the  slope  is  toward  Dawson.  In  coming  out  the 
slope  can  be  climbed  first,  and  then  the  precipice  can  be 
descended,  but  in  going  in  these  precipices  arc  encountered 
face  to  face. 

The  greatest  hardships  were  endured  here  on  this  long 
stretch  of  country,  both  by  those  going  out  and  by  those 
who  had  bravely  made  the  effort  to  reach  Dawson.  One 
could  hear  tales  of  suffering  every  day,  but  every  one  who 
was  getting  along  fairly  well  had  no  time  for  the  troubles 
of  others,  although  in  severe  cases  great  kindness  was 
shown. 


510  HARDSHIPS   BY   THE   WAY 

There  was  one  man  who  had  started  out  early  in  a  boat 
and  had  been  compelled  to  return  to  Dawson,  where  he 
finally  secured  a  dog  team.  At  the  foot  of  Lake  Lebarge  he 
slipped  and  fell  and  sprained  his  leg.  He  had  plenty  of 
provisions,  but  his  team  made  poor  time,  and  he  was  suf- 
fering great  pain.  lie  offered  good  money  to  those  who 
overtook  him  to  pull  him  out,  but  they  w^ere  in  too  gi'eat 
a  hurry  to  get  out  of  the  country  themselves. 

Another  young  man  had  been  left  at  Five  Finger  Eapids 
with  both  feet  frozen.  His  companions  were  unable  to  help 
him  along  to  the  coast,  and  so  left  him  as  comfortable  as 
they  could,  realizing  what  would  be  his  fate.  He  sent 
messages  to  his  friends  in  the  East,  and  there  he  was  left 
in  a  little  hut  with  no  one  to  care  for  him,  except  such 
passers-by  as  had  their  sympathy  touched.  He  was  finally 
taken  care  of  by  a  poor  family.  In  many  camps  we  passed 
men  were  sick,  and  the  prospects  were  that  they  could  not 
survive  the  trials  of  a  winter  in  such  a  place,  sleeping  on  the 
snow  with  the  thermometer  sometimes  as  low  as  seventy 
degrees  below  zero. 

Joe  and  I,  who,  by  spending  a  winter  on  the  Klondike, 
had  learned  how  to  prepare  for  the  cold  weather  and  rough 
trails,  worked  our  way  along  very  well  over  the  rough  river, 
though  in  places  the  ice  was  so  thin  that  we  and  others  we 
encountered  had  narrow  escapes  from  being  plunged  into 
the  river.  We  heard  of  one  man  who,  in  crossing,  had 
broken  through  and  slid  under  the  ice.  Of  course,  that  was 
the  last  of  him  in  such  a  swift  current.  At  Thirty  Mile 
River  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  portage,  for  the  river  was 
running  too  swift  to  freeze  at  all.  The  trail  along  the  banks 
was  a  hard  one,  and  we  w^ere  constantly  in  danger  of  sliding 
off  into  the  river. 


A   ONE-HORSE   SLEDGE   TEAM. 
A  pair  of  KoUl-scekers  on  their  wuy  tcj  tlie  Gold  Fields. 


AN  INDIAN  MOTHER  513 

After  many  trials  we  reached  White  Horse  Kapids, 
camping  on  a  hill  near  by.  The  traveling  on  the  lakes  was 
very  good,  but  it  was  a  hard  climb  up  that  hill.  Much  of 
the  time  we  had  to  crawl  on  our  hands  and  knees  while  drae;- 
ging  our  sleds,  and  a  careless  move  would  have  sent  us  down 
into  the  river. 

AVhen  we  arrived  there  preparations  were  being  made  to 
take  back  to  Skagway  a  young  woman  who  was  ver}^  ill. 
She  had  been  rescued  from  almost  certain  death  at  a  camp 
near  Lake  Lebarge.  She  had  been  pushing  toward  Daw- 
son with  a  party,  and,  early  in  ISTovember,  when  going  over 
the  last  hill  at  Miles  Cafion,  she  slipped  and  wrenched  her 
right  knee.  A  stretcher  was  made  for  her  and  the  party 
pushed  on  to  Lake  Lebarge,  where  they  finally  made  camp, 
but  the  limb,  without  medical  attendance,  grew  rapidly 
worse,  and  she  succumbed  to  a  low  rheumatic  fever.  Her 
life  was  despaired  of.  Finally,  she  was  sent  back  to  a  camp 
at  the  White  Horse  Rapids,  where  a  doctor  was  at  last  found 
who  put  the  knee  in  a  plaster  cast.  After  a  time  she  started 
for  Skagway  lashed  to  a  sled  drawn  by  five  dogs  —  a  ride  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty-five  miles,  over  hills  and  down  val- 
leys, and  through  blizzards! 

A  little  incident  of  the  trail!  A  little  chapter  in  the 
history  of  gold-seeking  in  Alaska! 

Another  true  story  of  the  Dyea  trail  is  that  of  the  In- 
dian mother  who  was  found  kneeling  in  the  snow,  bared  al- 
most to  the  skin  and  frozen  stiff.  But  in  lier  rigid  arms, 
wrapped  in  fold  upon  fold  of  thi(d<  furs,  slie  lield  a  liltle 
child,  warm  and  safe.  The  mother  had  given  her  life  for 
her  child  —  only  a  poor  Indian  woman,  but  witli  as  fine  an 
instinct  of  protective  motherhood  as  that  exemplified  by  any 
of  a  superior  race. 


514  BACK   TO   THE  AWFUL  CANON 

As  we  were  lying  on  a  pile  of  boughs  in  our  tent  tliat 
night,  with  our  wet  feet  shoved  up  near  the  red  hot  stove, 
Joe  said : 

"  William,  a  fellow's  life  ain't  worth  much  till  he  gets 
out  of  a  place  like  this." 

I  gave  him  a  quick  glance  to  see  if  he  were  looking  well, 
and  saw  that  he  was,  and,  as  he  was  always  sober-minded,  I 
thought  nothing  more  about  his  remark. 

"  You  know  what  you  told  me  when  we  arranged  in 
Colorado  to  come  to  Alaska,"  I  said. 

"  Yes,  it  takes  grit,  but  we  have  made  pretty  well  for  a 
two  yeare  roughing  it,  and  I  was  just  thinking  that  if  I  ever 
got  out  of  here  I  would  not  be  fool  enough  to  return. 
Colorado  is  good  enough  for  me.  You  too.  We've  got  a 
snug  sum,  and  what  we  need  now  is  to  get  it  out  with  our 
lives." 

He  said  no  more  and  we  were  soon  asleep.  The  next 
day  we  pushed  on  toward  the  canon.  All  the  way  along 
the  rapid  river  there  were  open  places  from  which  a  fine 
mist  came,  which  quickly  settled  as  frost  upon  everything. 
It  was  the  most  picturesque  spot  I  ever  saw.  The  rapids 
were  inspiring  in  their  grandness,  seething  and  rushing 
along  between  the  fantastically  sliaped  ice  that  had  gathered 
along  the  banks.  Over  this  ice  we  made  ,our  way  carefully, 
though  not  without  some  fear  that  it  would  break  vdtli  us 
and  that  we  should  be  whirled  off  down  the  boiling  stream, 
but  after  about  three  miles  of  it  we  came  safely  to  the 
canon. 

"  There's  where  I  sailed  out  on  the  bottom  of  the  Tar 
Stater,"  I  said  to  Joe,  as  we  looked  up  between  the  bluffs. 

"Well,  things  did  look  blue  that  day,  didn't  they? 
But  the  question  now  is,  which  course  shall  we  take  here  ?  " 


THE  RAPIDS  CLAIM  A  VICTIM  515 

There  were  two  routes  wliicli  we  could  take.  One  led 
up  a  hill  about  a  hundred  feet  high  and  almost  as  steep  as 
the  side  of  a  barn,  and  then  along  the  top  of  the  bluff  to  the 
other  end.  The  other  was  through  the  canon  on  the  ice 
which  had  formed  along  the  edge  of  the  rocks.  The  first 
meant  packing  on  our  backs  most  of  the  stuff  we  had,  and  in 
the  condition  of  the  trail  it  would  take  all  day  to  do  it.  By- 
taking  the  latter  course  we  could  go  through  in  a  few 
minutes  —  if  the  ice  would  hold.  We  saw  by  the  tracks 
that  numerous  dog  teams  had  already  gone  through,  and 
there  seemed  to  be  no  reason  why  we  should  not  at  least 
make  the  attempt. 

So  we  started  in.  The  waters  were  roaring  with  that 
thunder  tone  which  brought  vividly  back  to  me  my  four- 
minutes  trip  of  ^  few  months  before,  and  along  the  walls 
was  an  uneven  shelf  of  ice  which  the  dashing  spray  had 
formed.  It  seemed  sufficiently  wide  and  strong  at  first,  but 
it  gradually  narrowed  and  at  times  brought  us  very  near  the 
angry  water.  Joe  was  ahead  and  picking  his  way  very 
carefully.  Finally,  he  came  to  a  place  where  the  shelf  of 
ice  was  very  slanting  and  he  stepped  to  the  outside  edge  so 
as  to  push  the  sled  along  and  steady  it,  to  prevent  it  from 
sliding  into  the  water. 

I  was  preparing  to  do  the  same  thing  when  I  heard  a 
sharp  cry  from  Joe,  and,  looking  up,  I  saw  hi^n  slip,  then 
slide  over  the  edge  of  the  shelf  into  the  raging  rapids.  TTis 
hand  clutched  the  rope  of  the  sled,  and,  quick  as  n  (lasli,  \ 
sprang  forward  to  catch  it.  But  it.  was  too  late.  Over 
went  the  sled  into  the  misty  foam  and  sank  at  once,  for  it 
was  heavily  loaded. 

As  T  stood  almost  rigid  with  fright  T  saw  Joe  struggling 
bravely  in  the  waters,  but  being  swept  rapidly  down,  and 


510  DRAGGED  DOWN  TO  DEATH 

I  knew  he  was  no  swimmer.  I  started  and  ran,  but  jnst 
then  lie  was  drawn  under  the  ice  shelf,  and  that  was  the 
last  I  saw  of  Joe.  The  whole  thing  was  over  almost  in  an 
instant. 

OYeriX)wered  with  horror  and  grief,  I  dropped  down 
upon  the  ice  in  the  midst  of  that  roaring  canon  and  cried 
like  a  child. 

Poor  Joe !  He  was  a  brave,  good,  generous  fellow,  with 
a  heart  strong,  vet  tender.  How  he  had  worked  and  suf- 
fered to  save  my  life  that  wild  night  on  Indian  River !  And 
now  he  was  taken  awav  from  me  so  quickly  that  I  could  not 
even  throw  out  a  helping  hand.  Fate  had  marked  that 
canon  as  a  fatal  place  for  Joe  and  me.  We  had  for  years 
worked  together,  suffered  together,  and  helped  each  other, 
and  always  without  any  real  disagreements.  And  that 
awful  caiion  had  swallowed  him  almost  in  an  instant;  and  I 
could  not  even  hope  to  find  his  poor  body  to  raise  over  it  in 
that  wild  region  some  nide  memorial  to  a  noble  friend. 

Poor  Joe !  Just  as  he  had  with  strenuous  effort  wrested 
a  little  fortune  from  the  unfriendly  soil,  and  was  hopefully 
looking  f onvard  to  a  life  of  happier  conditions  under  a  more 
genial  sun,  he  was  snatched  away  by  Death, —  dragged 
down  to  an  icy  grave  where  the  wild  waters  lash  themselve'fe 
in  a  continual  fury  and  their  savage  tumult  is  unceasing. 
And  the  precious  dust,  for  which  he  had  risked  and  endured 
so  much  —  that,  too,  had  become  the  prey  of  that  awful, 
insatiate  force  that  has  claimed  many  a  life,  and  waits  to 
claim  yet  more. 

I  sat  for  a  long  time  bewildered,  mourning  with  all  my 
heart  for  the  poor  fellow,  and  then  walked  back  to  my  sled, 
which  had  kept  safely  to  the  shelf.  Then  for  the  first  time 
I  realized  my  own  serious  predicament.     I  was  left  with  tlie 


FORTUNATE  FOR  BOTH   PARTIES  517 

provisions,  but  with  no  tent,  no  stove,  no  cooking  utensils, 
and  only  two  blankets.  I  was  tempted  to  jump  into  the 
rapids  and  follow  Joe,  for  I  knew  I  should  freeze  unless  I 
could  fall  in  with  another  party  who  could  give  me  shelter 
and  warmth.  I  decided  to  push  on  through  the  canon, 
realizing  that  I  should  not  be  much  worse  off  if  I  also  made 
a  misstep  and  fell  in. 

That  was  a  sad  and  lonely  journey  for  me  through  those 
mountain  gorges.  I  stopped  for  nothing,  not  even  lunch, 
for  I  had  nothing  with  which  to  build  a  fire,  as  I  had  no  dry 
splinters.  In  the  afternoon  a  terrific  snow  storm  came  on 
and  fell  so  rapidly  that  it  soon  obliterated  the  trail.  To  go 
on  meant  certain  death;  to  attempt  to  camp  in  that  storm 
with  but  two  blankets  to  protect  me  meant,  probably,  the 
same  thing.  But  the  latter  course  offered  the  only  chance 
of  safety.  So,  as  I  slowly  waded  along,  I  looked  about  for 
a  sheltered  spot.  Turning  the  edge  of  a  mountain  which 
came  down  to  the  winding  river  I  uttered  a  cry  of  joy. 
There,  in  a  nook,  was  a  little  tent  half  buried  in  snow.  I 
hurried  on,  and,  when  near,  shouted  loudly,  but  no  one  ap- 
peared. 0]>ening  the  tent,  a  breath  of  warm  air  met  me. 
Crouching  close  to  a  hot  stove  was  a  man  who  looked  weak 
and  sick.  On  a  pile  of  boughs  was  another  man  looking 
still  weaker  and  sicker. 

"  Got  any  grub?  "  said  the  man  at  the  stove,  in  a  husky 
voice,  looking  up  to  me  with  eager  eyes. 

"  Too  much,"  I  said.      "  I  want  a  fire  and  a  tent." 

"  Wake  up,  Jim!  Wake  up!  Something  to  eat!  "  he 
said,  rousing  the  other  man. 

They  had  lost  their  provisions  a  long  ways  down  the 
river,  and  had  been  passed  along  from  camp  to  camp  with 
just  enough  food  to  last  them,  l)ut  one  of  tliciii  IkkI  frozen 


518  SAD   THOUGHTS 

the  soles  of  his  feet  and  for  a  whole  day  they  had  been 
camped  there  with  nothing  to  cat. 

"  I  began  to  think  I  should  have  to  kill  one  of  the  dogs 
and  eat  him,"  said  one  of  the  men,  after  we  had  feasted. 

"  Dogs?     I  saw  no  dogs  about." 

''  AVait  a  minute." 

AVe  mixed  np  some  flour  and  bacon  and  stepped  out  to 
where  the  snow  was  drifting  ever  deeper  and  deeper.  Kick- 
ing about  in  some  little  mounds  in  the  drifted  snow  we  found 
three  dogs,  sleeping  as  peacefully  and  snugly  as  possible. 
But  how  they  ate!  And  then  they  lay  down  and  let  the 
snow  drift  over  them  again. 

The  next  day  we  pushed  on  rapidly,  for  Jim's  feet  were 
better,  though  still  painful.  I  knew  we  must  make  good 
time  if  my  provisions  lasted  three  men  and  three  dogs  over 
the  pass.  But  we  had  fair  weather  till  we  reached  the  sum- 
mit, which  we  crossed  in  the  teeth  of  a  blizzard. 

AVliile  we  were  at  Sheep  Camp  there  was  a  bad  accident 
on  the  summit  which  we  had  just  safely  crossed.  The 
blizzard  was  still  raging,  and  as  a  party  of  coast-bound 
miners  w'ere  coming  over,  an  avalanche  came  thundering 
down  the  mountain  side  above  the  narrow  defile  through 
which  the  miners  pass.  It  covered  a  large  section  of  the 
new  tramway,  and  several  sleds  and  tons  of  provisions  were 
a  total  loss.  On  the  other  side  a  glacier  broke  away,  and 
rushed  down  with  terrific  force,  burying  two  sleds  and  a  part 
of  the  outfit  of  two  men. 

We  reached  Dyea  without  further  adventures.  It  was 
a  sad  journey.  And  as  I  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer, 
looking  back  on  those  sombre  shores  and  frowning  sum- 
mits, my  thoughts  were  of  my  lost  friend  and  his  tragic 
death. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

The  great  rush  to  the  Klondike  and  Alaska- 
excitement  ALL  over  the  world  — prepara- 
tion FOR  A  QUARTER  OF  A  MILLION  PEOPLE  — 
WHAT  IT  WILL  MEAN  IF  ALL  BECOME  RICH. 

At  Seattle  —  The  Stampede  of  1898  —  Nothing  to  Compare  with  It  — 
The  Days  of  '49  Eclipsed  —  Transportation  Engaged  in  Advance  — 
Fitting  Up  Vessels  to  Accommodate  the  Trade  —  "  Klondicitis  "  — 
The  Topic  of  Conversation  Everywhere  —  Preparing  Outfits  — 
Returning  Klondiiiers  Besieged  —  Women  and  Children  Have  the 
Fever  —  Old  Gold-Seekers  Aroused  —  All  Sorts  of  Men  Join  in 
the  Rush  —  Great  Exodus  from  California  —  Associations  of 
Women  —  Gold  Dust  on  Exhibition  —  The  Craze  Reaches  Jerusa- 
lem—  A  Quarter  of  a  Million  of  People  —  How  It  Appeared  to  a 
Returned  Klondiker  —  All  After  Gold  —  Money  Spent  for  Outfits  — 
What  It  May  Mean  —  Doubling  the  Gold  Production  in  a  Single 
Year-  If  All  Make  Fortunes  Gold  Will  Become  Cheap. 

BY  the  time  I  had  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Seattle  I  had 
about  made  up  my  mind  that  I  had  seen  all  I  cared 
to  of  the  Klondike,  and  that  I  should  look  about 
for  a  chance  to  employ  my  capital  in  the  States.  I  had 
formed  no  adequate  idea,  even  from  the  stories  which  had 
leaked  into  the  Yukon  valley,  of  the  extent  of  the  excite- 
ment over  the  Klondike  discoveries,  and  my  surprise  upon 
landing  and  learning'  the  true  situation  may  be  imagined. 
I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  more  remarkable  incident  in  the 
whole  drama  of  human  history  than  the  great  stampede  of 
1898,  a  term  which  must  be  giveu  to  the  exodus  of  jicdplo 

(519) 


520  MORE  ARGONAUTS   THAN   IN   '49 

bound  to  the  frozen  regions  of  the  north  in  search  of  gold. 
The  stampede  of  Eastern  people  to  California  in  1849  and 
1850  cannot  be  compared  with  it.  That  movement  was 
gradual,  in  a  sense.  It  could  take  place  at  any  time  of  the 
year,  and  people  had  more  and  easier  routes  than  Alaska 
affords.  But  all  the  miners  who  poured  into  California  in 
the  first  three  years  did  not  number  over  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand,  and  many  careful  historians  have 
put  the  number  at  less  than  a  hundred  thousand.  There 
were  never  more  than  fifty  thousand  arrivals  in  the  South 
African  gold  fields  in  any  one  year.  Xot  more  than  seventy 
thousand  people  went  to  Australia  when  gold  was  discovered 
there.  But  the  number  of  people  leaving  the  Pacific  coast 
alone  for  the  Klondike  or  other  parts  of  Alaska-  in  the  spring 
of  1898  was  estimated  at  seventy  thousand,  and  it  was  cal- 
culated that  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  more  from  the 
Eastern  states,  Canada,  Europe,  Australia,  and  South 
America  were  preparing  to  set  out. 

By  the  first  of  January,  1898,  the  five  transcontinental 
railroads  had  contracted  to  sell  to  Eastern  agents  tickets  for 
carrying  more  than  forty-five  thousand  people  going  to  the 
Klondike  before  June,  and  the  demands  for  tickets  were 
coming  in  every  day.  The  two  principal  steam  navigation 
companies,  operating  between  Seattle  and  San  Erancisco  on 
the  south  and  the  Yukon  river  on  the  north,  had  orders  for 
the  transportation  of  over  twenty  thousand  travelers,  while 
new  companies  for  the  trade  had  be,en  formed  by  the  score 
and  were  bringing  into  use  almost  every  steam  craft  of  any 
size  on  the  coast.  The  more  conservative  estimate  of  the 
number  of  people  transported  by  the  railroads  to  the  coast 
to  take  north-bound  vessels  was  placed  by  passenger  agents 
at  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand. 


"  KLONDICITIS  "  521 

At  the  shipping  towns  all  winter  hundreds  of  men  were 
employed  night  and  day  in  fitting  up  vessels  suitable  for 
carrying  people  and  provisions  up  the  Yukon  River  from 
the  time  navigation  opened  to  September.  It  was  said  that 
every  vessel  on  the  Pacific  coast  from  Chili  to  British  Co- 
lumbia that  could  be  bought  and  made  serviceable  for  a  sea 
voyage  was  in  preparation  for  the  Klondike  business. 
Twenty  or  more  sea-going  craft  were  fitted  out  in  Eastern 
seaports  and  went  around  the  Horn  to  be  ready  for  the 
grand  rush  to  Alaska.  Millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  capital 
was  put  into  shipping  and  transportation  companies,  and  the 
demand  for  facilities  seemed  to  have  no  limit. 

The  way  the  fever  had  taken  hold  of  the  people  of  the 
coast,  especially  in  California  and  Washington,  was  some- 
thing appalling.  The  papers  called  it  ''  Klondicitis."  In 
the  larger  centers  of  California  the  preparations  for  going 
to  the  Klondike  were  as  general  and  as  earnest  as  they  were 
in  Eastern  localities  for  men  going  to  war  in  the  early 
sixties.  Wherever  I  went  I  heard  little  but  "  Klondike  " 
talked  about  on  the  cars,  in  the  hotels,  in  the  saloons,  and 
even  on  Sunda^^s  at  church.  Whenever  you  observed  a 
knot  of  men  in  the  street, in  a  rural  highway, or  in  any  public 
place  in  California,  you  were  pretty  sure  to  find  that  the 
latest  news  of  new  strikes  in  the  Klondike  diggings  was 
under  discussion.  All  the  letters  that  had  come  straggling 
down  from  Dawson  were  passed  from  hand  to  hand  and  read 
aloud  until  they  fell  into  tatters.  "  Yes,  I'm  going  this 
spring,"  was  a  popular  button  worn.  In  all  the  large  cities 
nuggets  and  bottles  of  gold  dust  were  on  exbil)ition  in  show- 
windows,  and  groups  of  men  were  always  aboiit  lli(>  yellow 
stuff  which  at  Dawson  would  not  liavc  niti'ncfcd  1i;ilf  as 
much  of  a  crowd  as  a  nice  roast  of  beef.      Wherever  1  went, 


522  STUDYING   THE   TOPOGiRAPHY    OF  ALASKA 

railroad  billboards  were  covered  with  Klondike  circulars, 
and,  later,  in  every  depot  I  entered  as  I  came  East  were  to  be 
found  circulars  announcing  an  easy  route  to  the  Pacific 
coast  and  the  Klondike. 

The  fever  affected  all  lines  of  enterprise.  It  was  a  great 
thing  for  business  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Hundreds  of  firms 
and  individuals  were  preparing  outfits  of  fur  caps  and  coats, 
rubber  goods,  sleds,  stoves,  tents,  and  all  sorts  of  devices,  and 
were  selling  them  like  hot  cakes. 

The  Klondike  fever  seemed  to  be  in  the  air.  Women 
and  children  shared  in  the  desire  to  get  rich  in  the  Klon- 
dike, and  maps  of  Alaska  were  pored  over  by  whole  families 
for  e^'enings  at  a  time.  When  I  was  visiting  an  old  friend 
of  mine  in  Los  Angeles  I  was  besieged  by  all  the  neighbors 
for  information  as  to  the  Klondike.  One  evening  I  asked 
his  son,  a  bright  lad  of  ten  years,  if  he  knew  the  length  of 
the  sea  coast  of  California,  and  he  said  he  did  not.  But  I 
found  that  he  knew  the  exact  length  of  the  Yukon  River. 
Little  schoolboys  and  girls  knew  the  topography  of  the 
Yukon  and  Klondike  regions  better  than  they  did  that  of 
their  native  State.  The  fact  that  several  hundred  men  went 
from  the  Pacific  coast  to  the  Yukon  River  mines  in  1894, 
1895,  and  1896,  all  very  poor,  and  that  they  came  back  in 
1897  very  rich  —  some  of  them  millionaires  and  some  of 
them  bringing  with  them  sixty  thousand  dollars,  seventy 
thousand  dollars,  and  eighty  thousand  dollars  in  actual  gold 
—  set  the  communities  in  which  these  successful  Klondikers 
were  personally  known  well-nigh  vnld  with  anxiety  to  go 
and  do  likewise. 

The  desire  on  the  Pacific  coast  for  information  about 
the  possibilities  in  the  marvelous  new  diggings  has  amounted 
almost  to  hunger.     The  public  libraries  all  had  constant 


FORCED   TO   GO   INTO   HIDING  523 

calls  for  literature  relating  to  Alaska.  All  tlie  returned 
Klondikers  were  run  after  and  appealed  to  by  crowds  of  men 
and  a  few  women  for  Klondike  information.  The  more 
successful  Klondikers  were  driven  to  exasperation  by  un- 
countable questions  from  droves  of  people.  William 
Hewitt,  who  came  back  to  his  Ventura  country  home  with 
a  five-gallon  oil  can  filled  with  gold  dust  and  nuggets,  had 
more  than  one  hundred  callers  and  talkers  every  day  for 
weeks,  and  as  many  letters  from  every  State  in  the  Union. 
J.  C.  Miller  was  on  the  verge  of  nervous  prostration  and 
had  to  leave  his  Los  Angeles  home  when  he  got  back  from 
the  Klondike  because  he  was  visited  by  a  swarm  of  gold- 
crazy  men  day  after  day  for  a  month. 

Clarence  A.  Berry  and  his  wife,  who  came  from  Daw- 
son with  more  than  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars, 
were  followed  by  such  throngs  on  the  streets  of  San  Fran- 
cisco that  they  fled  to  their  quiet  ranch  home  at  Selma, 
where  a  flood  of  letters  came  in  upon  them  with  every  mail. 
Jacob  Wiseman,  a  returned  Klondiker  in  Walla  Walla, 
Wash.,  was  bothered  so  much  and  so  long  by  Klondike-wild 
people  that  he  quit  the  town  secretly  and  went  and  lived 
under  an  assumed  name  at  Tacoma  for  a  few  weeks. 

The  men  who  were  making  ready  for  the  Yidvon  Kiver 
and  Klondike  country  were  of  all  stations.  Naturally,  the 
old-time  miners  were  most  mightily  moved  by  the  news  of 
the  gold  find  in  Alaska,  and,  possessed  by  the  characteristic 
restlessness  of  gold-seekers,  many  of  them  had  gone  to 
Alaska  and  had  been  struggling  all  winter  from  I)y(\'i  and 
Skagway  over  the  Chilkoot  Pass  to  Dawson,  About  every 
able-bodied  and  ambitious  man  in  (California  who  had  been 
out  of  employment  for  a  time  was  either  arranging  to  slai't 
for  the  Klondike  or  was  just  itching  for  a  cbancc  to  get 


524  EVERY   HAMLET   SENDS   ITS   SHARE 

away.  Iluudrecls  of  men  gave  notice  to  their  employers 
that  they  would  quit  their  jobs  and  sail  as  soon  as  possible 
fur  Alaska.  The  Santa  Fe  and  Sonthern  Pacific  raih-oad 
companies  each  received  applications  from  scores  of  men 
for  relief  from  duty.  Every  police  force  in  the  larger  cities 
up  the  Pacific  coast  States  had  vacancies  caused  by  the  resig- 
nation of  men  going  to  the  gold  diggings. 

Clerks,  lawyers,  editors,  reporters,  doctors,  merchants, 
butchers,  cobblers,  stablemen,  ranchers,  and  especially 
engineers  and  men  who  love  adventure  were  getting  ready 
to  start  for  the  Klondike  when  navigation  began.  The  men 
who  had  a  few  thousand  dollars  saved,  and  believed  they 
could  soon  double  their  capital  by  lending  it  at  exorbitant 
interest  rates,  or  by  trading,  were  largely  in  evidence  among 
those  who  were  soon  going  north.  ]\Iore  than  three-fourths 
of  the  members  of  the  graduating  classes  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco and  Los  Angeles  medical  schools  were  hastening  their 
studies  with  a  view  to  getting  established  in  the  practice  of 
their  profession  somewhere  in  the  Klondike  country. 

Every  community,  even  the  most  humble  hamlet,  had 
some  citizens  who  were  packing  and  planning  to  live  a  year 
at  least  in  the  Klondike  gold  region.  In  such  towns  as 
Eresno,  Stockton,  Riverside,  Pomona,  and  Redlands  there 
were  companies  of  twenty  and  thirty  men  who  were  going 
to  dig  for  Klondike  gold.  The  greatest  rush  of  people  in 
any  Eastern  city  in  the  United  States  for  the  Klondike 
placer  mines  was  from  Chicago. 

The  number  of  women  going  to  the  Klondike  as  soon 
as  navigation  opens  was  increasing  as  the  continuous  reports 
of  richer  and  more  abundant  finds  came  down  from  the 
frozen  north.  The  allurements  of  the  yellow  metal  were 
almost  as  potent  among  the  women  of  California  as  among 


MINING   ASSOCIATIONS   OF  WOMEN  5"25 

the  men,  and  the  exhibits  of  Klondike  nuggets  and  golden 
dust  in  the  store  and  bank  windows  and  public  places,  and 
the  personal  knowledge  of  men  who  went  to  Alaska  poor  in 
1895  and  came  back  rich,  all  had  their  effect.  The  book- 
sellers said  they  had  hundreds  of  calls  from  women  for 
books  and  maps  giving  a  knowledge  of  Alaska,  and  the 
newspaper  accounts  of  the  work  and  success  of  the  miners 
on  the  Klondike  were  read  by  as  many  California  women  as 
men.  Every  community  of  two  thousand  or  three  thou- 
sand people  had  a  few  women  residents  making  ready  to  go 
to  live  in  the  Klondike  region  for  a  year  or  two.  In  Los 
Angeles  there  were  twenty  women  making  Klondike  prepa- 
rations. San  Diego  had  half  a  dozen,  San  Francisco  more 
than  one  hundred,  Portland,  Ore.,  a  score,  and  Seattle  twice 
as  many  more.  But  few  of  these  women  were  going  with 
husbands.  The  greater  part  of  them  had  no  husbands,  and 
they  went  to  the  gold  regions  expecting  that  where  men 
may  get  rich  either  as  workers  in  mines  or  owners  of  mining 
claims  they  also  may  do  so. 

A  few  women  went  as  mining  prospectors.  Miss  Jennie 
Hilton,  who  has  made  a  small  fortune  in  gold-mining  in 
Arizona,  contracted  with  a  syndicate  of  business-like  women 
to  spend  two  years  in  gold-mining  in  the  Klondike  region. 
The  profits  were  to  go  to  the  members  of  the  syndicate,  who 
will  pay  Miss  Hilton  a  good  salary  and  twenty  per  cent,  of 
the  first  year's  find  of  gold.  Several  associations  of  women 
were  formed  for  mining  in  the  Klondike  region,  and  each 
sent  several  w^omen  to  seek  gold  for  thoin. 

The  competition  among  the  transcontinental  niilroad 
companies  for  the  transportation  business,  niid  jmiong  tlio 
cities  of  San  Francisco,  Seattle,  and  Tacoma  for  the  enor- 
mous sums  spent  on  the  coast  for  Klondike^  outfits,  was  very 
31 


536  TRAVELING  EXHIBITS 

keeu.  Three  of  the  raih'oad  companies  had  cars  tilled  witli 
Klondike  exhibits  traveling  from  town  to  town  in  the 
Eastern  States.  The  cars  were  substantially  the  same. 
Each  contained  glass  jars  of  nuggets  and  gold  dust,  litera- 
ture about  Alaska  and  the  new  diggings,  and  a  complete  and 
varied  assortment  of  the  articles  necessary  for  living  and 
successful  mining  in  the  Arctic  regions.  There  were 
miners'  pans,  rockers,  picks,  hammers,  shovels,  quicksilver 
contrivances  for  holding  particles  of  gold,  besides  samples 
of  fur  and  wool  garmentvS  worn  in  the  Arctic  regions,  fur 
hoods  and  muffs  and  walrus  skin  shoes.  There  were  hun- 
dreds of  pictures  showing  how  the  gravel  of  the  mines  is 
thawed  and  dug  out,  and  how  it  is  finally  sluiced  when  the 
warmer  weather  of  midsummer  comes;  pictures  of  miners' 
life  in  the  Yukon  cabins,  and  photographs  of  Dawson  and 
the  surrounding  country. 

The  rush  of  people  to  the  Klondike  during  the  five 
months  of  navigation  in  1898  was  the  most  wonderful  ever 
known  to  any  region  —  gold  or  otherwise.  White,  red, 
brown,  and  black  men  alike  were  stirred  by  the  discovery  of 
a  new  gold  field,  and  all  came  over  seas  from  the  antipodes 
and  across  continents  to  join  in  a  grand  rush  northward  up 
the  Pacific. 

One  company  alone  received  more  than  twenty-five 
thousand  inquiries  from  people  saying  they  were  making 
ready  to  go  to  the  Klondike. 

The  letters  that  the  transportation  companies  received 
every  day  showed  that  the  Klondike  fever  was  by  no  means 
local.  It  reached  Russia  and  even  staid  old  Jerusalem, 
where  one  would  believe  that  digging  gold  within  the  Arctic 
circle  would  not  have  a  moment's  consideration.  A  gentle- 
man in  the  Central  Pacific  offices  showed  me  a  letter  from  a 


THIS   MADNESS  REACHES  ROUND  THE   WORLD        527 

Greek  in  Jerusalem  who  said  tliat  be  and  a  company  of 
other  Greeks  there  are  going  to  Dawson  with  stores  of 
goods  to  trade.  Norwegians  and  Swedes  have  been  more 
deeply  interested  in  the  newly-found  gold  mines  in  Alaska 
than  any  people  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  Several  of 
their  countrymen  were  among  the  Klondikers  who  came 
down  from  Alaska  with  fortunes.  A  sloop  having  on  board 
ninety  Norwegians  left  Christiania  in  October,  going 
around  the  Horn  and  reaching  San  Francisco  in  April. 
Hundreds  of  letters  from  Englishmen  were  received,  and 
there  were  large  concerns  doing  a  thriving  business  in  Lon- 
don in  fitting  out  prospective  Klondikers  with  Arctic 
raiment  and  miners'  tools.  The  Canadian  Pacific  Railroad 
expected  to  carry  several  thousand  young  Englishmen  and 
Canadians  across  the  continent  on  their  way  to  the  Klon- 
dike. Dozens  of  large  expeditions  were  forming  in  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  for  digging  gold  in  the  Yukon  Kiver 
country. 

The  Britannia-Columbia  Company  sold  thousands  of 
pounds'  worth  of  stock  and  sent  more  than  five  hundred 
men  to  mine  and  trade  in  the  new  gold  region.  An  expedi- 
tion of  three  hundred  Scotchmen  sailed  for  Montreal  in  the 
latter  part  of  January  on  their  way  to  Alaska.  A  company 
of  young  Italians  was  in  San  Francisco,  impatiently  await- 
ing the  sailing  of  the  first  boat  for  the  Yukon.  They  were, 
they  said,  the  advance  guard  of  several  hundred  of  their 
countrymen  who  have  been  charmed  by  the  news  of  the 
fortunes  made  on  the  Klondike. 

A  fairly  conservative  estimate  of  the  number  of  ])eoi)lG 
who  were  going  into  the  Klondike  or  to  other  gold  fields  in 
Alaska  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  T  mot  tliem 
all  the  way  on  my  trip  East.     Every  wcst-bouii<l  express 


538  A   MANIP^ESTATION   OF   HUMAN   NATURE 

was  loaded  down  with  Klondikers.  One  day  1  saw  fonrtcen 
coaches  on  a  west-bound  train.  Xine  coaches  make  an 
ordinary  and  a  heavy  train,  but  the  rush  was  so  great  that 
five  additional  coaches  had  been  attached  to  the  train. 
Every  day  there  were  from  three  to  six  additional  coaches 
to  each  westward-bound  train.  The  passenger  list  of  a 
single  day's  through  train  included  about  tw^o  hundred  men 
and  one  hundred  dogs  bound  for  the  gold  fields. 

To  one  who  has  just  returned  from  a  two-years  ex- 
perience in  the  gold  regions  of  the  Yukon,  who  has  seen 
death  and  suffering  as  an  incident  of  everyday  life,  who 
knows  what  mining  in  Alaska  or  in  the  Klondike  means, 
who  has  been  forced  to  rush  back  to  the  States  to  make  sure 
of  enough  to  eat,  and  who  has  seen  his  dearest  friend 
swept  away  under  the  ice  by  a  raging  river  which  can  count 
its  victims  by  the  score,  these  preparations  for  rushing  for 
fortunes  into  those  frozen  mountains  appeared  like  madness. 
Yet  when  we  come  to  study  it,  it  is  nothing  of  the  kind.  It 
is  human  nature  manifesting  itself  in  a  certain  direction. 
What  had  Joe  and  I  gone  into  Alaska  for?  Gold.  What 
did  the  ten  thousand  or  more  people  who  sought  to  go  in 
in  1897  want  but  gold?  And  what  were  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  people  I  found  preparing  to  rush  in  after 
but  gold?  It  is  that  which  society  in  its  growth  and 
economic  development  has  decreed  as  the  standard  of  all 
value,  that  which  the  old  alchemists  tried  to  make,  which  the 
miser  gloats  over,  that  which  when  held  in  abundance  gives 
men  standing  in  society,  influence,  and  power.  That  is 
what  all  are  after,  and  the  stampede  would  probably  not  be 
more  remarkable  if  the  only  way  to  save  the  immortal  soul 
was  to  winter  in  Alaska. 

But  there  is  money  to  be  made  in  the  United  States  as 


WHAT  THE  AVERAGE  IS  531 

well  as  in  Alaska.  One  might  make  as  miicli  in  a  day  on 
the  stock  exchange  as  he  can  find  in  a  year  in  Alaska  or  the 
Klondike.  But  that  is  not  the  point.  The  impression  is 
that  the  gold  of  the  Yukon  can  be  obtained  easily,  that  the 
land  is  a  poor  man's  country,  and  that  in  a  year  or  so  one 
may  return  rich  and  take  that  place  in  society  that  wealth 
can  give.  But  gold  does  not  grow  upon  the  bushes  of  the 
Yukon  hills;  it  does  not  lie  to  any  great  extent  on  the 
ground;  in  the  whole  great  valley  probably  there  are  few 
places  where  boulders  can  be  turned  over  disclosing  shining 
nuggets  underneath.  There  are  acres  of  gold  there,  but  to 
secure  the  precious  metal  one  must  be  prepared  to  work  as 
he  would  not  work  in  the  United  States.  He  must  run 
the  risk  of  losing  his  life  or  ruining  his  constitution,  and 
even  then  he  may  not  find  the  wealth  he  sought. 

During  the  winter  following  the  gold  discoveries  on  the 
Yukon  there  were  at  least  two  thousand  people  at  Dawson 
and  in  the  mines.  The  output  was  reckoned  at  about  six 
million  dollars;  that  is  about  three  thousand  dollars  for  each 
person.  No  man  can  go  into  the  Klondike  and  live  a  year 
and  profitably  work  a  mine  for  any  such  amount  of  money 
as  that.  The  trip  in  with  a  fair  outfit  can  cost  no  l(>ss  than 
five  hundred  dollars.  By  the  time  ho  has  staked  a  claim, 
built  a  hut,  and  prepared  to  work  the  mine,  he  has  spent 
nearer  two  thousand  dollars,  and  if  he  is  careful  and  has 
good  luck  he  may  get  out  of  the  country  at  the  end  of  a  year 
on  the  balance. 

But,  it  will  be  said,  there  were  several  men  wlio  went  in 
with  thousands  in  the  summer  of  1(S07  and  caiiic  out  with 
millions.  They  certainly  came  out  with  thousands.  So 
much  the  worse,  then,  for  those  avIio  did  not  uinkc  thou- 
sands, for,  as  I  have  said,  the  outjuit  per  jxtsou  was  not 


532  A  MONETARY   UPHEAVAL 

greater  than  three  thousand.  If  a  hundred  or  so  came  out 
with  thousands,  how  about  the  other  one  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred who  did  not  ? 

It  has  been  said  that  ten  thousand  people  rushed  into 
the  Klondike  and  to  other  points  on  the  Yukon  in  1897. 
But  the  output  can  hardly  be  greater  than  twenty  million, 
that  is  two  thousand  per  pei-son.  If  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  people  rush  into  the  country,  it  is  not  likely  that 
they  will  spend  less  than  three  hundr&d  dollars  each  in  get- 
ting into  the  country.  That  means  seventy-five  million 
dollars.  They  will  probably  spend  more  on  the  average. 
Supposing  that  these  people  spend  a  year  in  Alaska  and  take 
out  an  average  of  two  tliousand  dollars  each  —  an  amount 
that  would  not  pay  their  expenses  —  the  aggregate  output 
for  1898-99  would  be  five  hundred  million  dollars,  or  more 
than  ticice  the  gold  prod  net  iou  in  JS97  for  the  entire 
trorld. 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  the  great  rush  of  people 
into  the  Yukon  valley  means  one  of  two  things;  either  a 
great  loss  of  money  for  those  engaged  in  the  rush,  or  a 
complete  upsetting  of  the  standard  on  which  all  values  are 
based. 

But  they  are  not  after  the  paltry  two  thousand  dollars! 
They  would  not  rush  in  for  that.  Their  hopes  are  to  come 
out  as  some  of  the  lucky  ones  did  last  year  with  fortunes  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars  or  more  apiece,  perhaps  a  million. 
They  do  not  stop  to  think  what  that  means.  If  one-half  of 
them  made  fortunes  of  only  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
each  and  the  other  half  made  nothing,  it  would  mean  an 
output  of  over  four  billion  dollai*s  in  gold,  or  more  than  all 
the  coined  gold  in  a  world  which  has  been  coining  it  for 
fifty  centuries. 


THE   FINAL  RESULT  533 

Tliere  must  either  be  a  terrible  disappointment  to  the 
thousands  who  are  going  into  Alaska  and  the  Klondike  or 
there  must  be  a  monetary  upheaval.  If  all  become  rich  in 
gold,  the  metal  will  become  cheap,  too  cheap  to  be  worth  the 
hazards  and  privations  endured  by  those  who  sought  it. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

RESOURCES  OF  THE  YUKOX  VALLEY  — POSSIBILITIES 
OF  QUARTZ  MINING  — COOK  INLET,  UNGA  ISLAND 
AND  COPPER  RIVER  — THE  FUTURE  OF  ALASKA. 

Waiting  for  More  Thorough  Prospects  —  Comparative  Smallnessof  the 
Klondike  District  —  Room  for  a  Million  to  be  Lost  in  —  The  Klon- 
dike all  Located  —  The  Government's  Gold  Map  —  Traces  of  Gold 
Everywhere  —  Most  of  Alaska  Unexplored  —  Some  Comparisons 
with  Early  Production  in  California  —  Difference  in  Conditions  — 
Obstacles  to  be  Overcome  —  Possibly  a  Dozen  Klondikes — Induce- 
ments for  Quartz  Mining  —  A  Belt  of  Rich  Rock  Thousands  of 
Miles  Long  —  The  Quartz  Mines  of  Unga  Island  —  A  String  of 
Islands  that  May  be  Rich  in  Gold  —  A  Test  of  Klondike  Quartz  — 
Credit  for  the  First  Discovery  —  Cook  Inlet  and  Its  Mines  —  The 
Benefit  of  Waiting  a  Little  Longer  —  The  Copper  River  Countrj'  — 
Stories  of  Rich  Diggings  —  Friendly  Indians  with  Mineral  Wealth 
— Points  of  Distribution  —  Unforeseen  Results  of  Our  Purchase  of 
Alaska  —  Its  Future. 

WHILE  it  may  seem  that  there  can  be  but  one 
answer  to  the  question  as  to  whether  the  hopes 
of  the  thousands  of  people  who  have  gone  to  the 
Yukon  valley  can  be  realized,  it  is  certainly  impossible  for 
any  man  to  say  what  may  be  the  results  till  the  great  country 
has  been  more  thoroughly  explored  and  prospected.  The 
general  conception  of  wdiat  is  required  in  life  in  Alaska 
or  the  British  Xorthwest  Territory,  is  quite  as  inadequate 
as  the  usual  idea. as  to  the  size  of  the  country,  and  of  the 
comparative  size  of  the  so-called  Klondike  district.     The 

(534) 


ROOM  FOR  A   MILLION  MORE  535 

area  of  the  whole  of  the  Klondike  and. Indian  River  dis- 
tricts, upon  which  any  work  of  importance  was  done  before 
.the  spring  of  1898,  is  not  greater  than  that  of  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island.  But  the  area  of  Alaska  alone  is  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty  times  that  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  British 
Yukon  district,  in  which  the  Klondike  region  lies,  is  at  least 
two  hundred  times  the  size  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island. 
In  other  words,  almost  the  whole  excitement  over  gold  dis- 
coveries in  the  north  has  centered  in  a  little  clump  of  moun- 
tains forming  about  one  six  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  part 
of  the  great  country  whose  future  has  become  a  matter  of 
such  interest,  and  upon  the  development  of  which  results 
so  largely  depend.  It  wdll  thus  be  seen  that  while  there  re- 
mains little  chance  for  newcomers  in  the  Klondike,  it  would 
be  easy  for  a  million  people  to  be  so  placed  in  the  whole 
country  that  they  might  feel  lonesome.  Those  who 
stumbled  upon  the  Klondike  placers  just  happened  to  find 
one  of  the  rich  pockets  under  the  moss  and  muck  of  the 
land,  and  even  as  a  result  of  nearly  two  years  of  excitement 
much  less  of  the  district  has  been  worked  than  has  been 
preempted.  Comparatively  little  ground  has  been  worked 
yet.  The  claims  on  the  various  creeks  forming  the  dis- 
trict have  all  been  located;  wherever  gold  has  been  found 
on  the  side  hills  above  the  creek  beds  bench  claims  have 
been  located,  and  a  few  quartz  claims  have  been  recorded. 
But  even  so,  the  Klondike  district  is  a  small  one  compared 
with  the  area  of  country  over  which  gold  has  been  found. 

As  a  result  of  the  now  interest  in  these  gold  fields,  the 
government  of  the  T'nited  States  has  recently  prepared  a 
gold  map  combining  the  results  of  its  recent  explorations 
and  the  reports  of  those  who  have  found  traces  of  gold  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.     AVliercvcr  such  I  races  liiiv(> 


530  ASTONISHING   RESULTS   POSSIBLE 

been  found  it  is  indicated  by  yellow  spots,  and  the  most 
striking  thing  about  it  is  the  extent  of  the  country  so 
dotted.  Gold  is  everywhere,  apparently,  on  all  the  creeks 
and  rivers,  and  yet  most  of  the  gold  that  has  been  taken 
out  has  been  from  a  few  small  creeks  and  gulches.  A  large 
part  of  Alaska  is  entirely  unexplored,  is  a  real  terra  in- 
coy)!  if  a.  The  fact  that  so  many  have  had  their  attention 
attracted  in  its  direction  constitutes  the  possibility  of  start- 
ling results. 

When  we  consider  that  the  country  in  question  is  five 
times  as  large  as  California,  and  that  gold  is  found  over 
such  a  large  area,  while  the  placers  of  California  were  not 
large  in  comparison  with  the  whole  State,  and,  further,  that 
placers  of  such  richness  as  those  of  the  Yukon  have  never 
before  been  found,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  most  astonish- 
ing results  are  possible,  when  human  energy  and  ingenuity 
is  once  centered  on  the  problem  of  securing  the  gold. 

The  gold  production  of  the  United  States  for  the  first 
six  years  of  the  California  discoveries  (nearly  all  of  it  the 
result  of  working  the  alluvial  of  that  State)  is  officially 
o-iven  as  follows : 


1848,   . 

.  $10,000,000 

1851,   . 

.  155,000,000 

1849,   . 

.   40,000,000 

1853,   . 

.   60.000,000 

1850,   . 

.   50,000,000 

1853,   . 

.   65,000,000 

From  that  point  it  began  to  decline  rapidly,  for  the 
placers  were  exhausted  to  a  large  degree.  On  about  a 
score  of  mines,  which  were  worked  in  a  crude  way  during 
the  wint-er  of  1896-Y  on  two  streams  in  the  Klondike,  fully 
five  million  dollars  in  gold  was  produced.  The  evidence 
of  this  fact  is  that  more  than  that  amount  was  brought 
riown  in  the  summer  of  1897  from  this  region,  and  there 
U'as  certainlv  considerable  ffold  taken  out  that  winter  that 


A  HUNDRED   MILLIONS  ANNUALLY  537 

was  not  brought  down.  While  during  the  succeeding  win- 
ter more  claims  were  worked,  the  scarcity  of  food  rendered 
the  labor  of  many  who  were  in  the  district  inefficient. 
Nevertheless,  the  production  can  hardly  be  less  than  twice 
what  it  was  in  California  in  1 848,  and  if  the  people  rushing 
into  the  country  in  1898  accomplish  anything  like  what 
the  Forty-niners  did,  or  what  the  gold-seekers  in  1851  in 
Australia  did,  it  can  not  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  the 
gold  production  of  Alaska  and  the  upper  Yukon  territory 
may  reach  a  hundred  millions  annually;  and  while  the  rich 
placers  of  California  were  quickly  exhausted,  those  of  the 
North  seem  inexhaustible. 

But  the  difference  in  climate  and  in  the  conditions  as 
to  placer  mining  between  California  or  Australia  and  the 
Yukon  must  be  taken  into  consideration.  In  Australia 
and  California  a  man  with  pick,  shovel,  and  pan  could,  in 
the  days  of  gulch  or  creek  mining,  prospect  in  all  seasons, 
was  nearly  always  within  easy  reach  of  supplies,  and  could 
prospect  many  miles  of  creek  in  a  few  weeks;  for  there  the 
ground  was  not  frozen  and  was  not  covered  with  muck,  and 
the  pay  was,  in  most  cases,  found  along  the  present  streams, 
something  that  is  not  true  on  the  Yukon,  where  the  gold  in 
all  creek  claims  is  mined  from  what  is  called  a  pay-channel, 
or,  sometimes,  two  pay-channels.  Tlie  pay-channels  do 
not  follow  the  lines  of  the  present  streams  at  all,  though 
confined  by  the  same  walls;  and  prospectors  in  endeavoring 
to  locate  the  pay  are  in  no  way  guided  l)y  the  course  of  (lie 
present  streams  nor  assisted  by  modern  erosions,  except 
that  in  summer  they  may  find  evidence  that  there  is  a  rich 
pay-channel  in  the  presence  of  gold  in  the  bed  of  the  stream, 
washed  from  such  pay-cli;iinicl ;  biil  in  (n-clcr  to  tiii<!  llic  (1(>- 
posit  the  prospector  must  wait  until  the  ground  is  iVu/.cii. 


538  POSSIBILITIES   IN   QUARTZ   MINING 

But  such  obstacles  will  not  baffle  hiimaii  inocniiitj,  and 
it  is  safe  to  say  tliat  tlie  discovery  on  the  Klondike  is  but 
the  beginning  of  systematic  mining  on  a  large  scale,  for, 
innnense  as  the  riches  of  the  district  are,  they  are  merely 
an  object  lesson  of  the  opportunities  which  lie  waiting 
thronghont  the  Yukon  basin.  Even  the  crowds  who  have 
already  gone  will  hardly  make  a  showing  in  that  vast  area. 
"We  have  yet  to  hear  from  creeks  like  Sulphur,  ]\Iontana, 
and  ]\rooschide,  which  are  known  to  be  rich  and  which  were 
largely  discovered  and  staked  by  those  who  first  rushed  in 
after  the  news  of  the  Klondike.  It  is  not  extravagant  to 
say  that  another  year  may  develop  a  dozen  Klondikes,  and 
that  the  principal  scene  of  operations  will  be  in  Alaska, 
where  miners  are  free  from  the  extortion  of  royalty  and 
taxes  by  the  Canadian  government. 

In  many  respects  quartz  mining  offers  greater  induce- 
ments to  those  seeking  fortunes  in  Alaska  than  the  working 
of  the  frozen  placers,  but,  as  yet,  little  is  known  of  the  pos- 
sibilities in  this  direction.  There  is  the  natural  assump- 
tion that  where  such  rich  deposits  are  found  in  the  creek 
beds  and  on  some  of  the  hillsides,  gold-bearing  rock  of 
great  value  must  exist.  It  would  seem  to  be  a  fact  that  the 
gold  in  nuggets  found  on  Bonanza  and  Eldorado  bears  no 
evidence  of  having  traveled  any  distance  —  in  fact,  the  ma- 
jority of  the  nuggets  are  as  angular  and  irregular  in  shape 
as  though  just  pounded  out  of  the  mother  lode.  This  leads 
to  the  inference  that  that  mother  lode  is  not  very  distant 
from  where  this  gold  is  now  found,  and  the  only  debatable 
question  is,  is  it  in  lodes  of  sufficient  dimensions  to  pay  for 
working  by  stamp  mills,  or  is  it  a  series  of  widely-dis- 
seminated, thin  seams  that  the  miners  term  "  stringers,"  so 


THE  GOLD-BEARING   ZONE  539 

scattered  as  to  render  working  them  unprofitable?  Time 
alone  will  reveal  this  secret. 

Gold  has  been  foimd  at  the  head  of  Lake  Lebarge  on  a 
stream  flowing  into  the  lake  from  the  east.  Prospects,  too, 
are  found  on  the  Dalton  trail,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Yukon  River.  A  man  riding  across  the  Alsek  on  this  trail 
was  thrown  from  his  horse,  and  in  clambering  ashore  caught 
at  a  small  tree,  which  pulled  out  by  the  roots.  AVhere  he 
landed  he  saw  something  shining  on  the  rock.  He  picked 
it  up  and  found  that  it  was  gold.  He  showed  this  gold  at 
Fort  Cudahy  in  July,  1896,  the  amount  being  about  one 
dollar  and  sixty  cents.  Other  prospects  have  also  been 
found  along  the  same  trail,  about  midway  between  there 
and  Selkirk. 

From  these  circumstances  and  discoveries  it  may  be  as- 
sumed that  in  all  this  country  there  is  gold,  while  in  one 
particular  zone  it  is  especially  abundant.  This  zone  lies 
outside  of  a  range  of  mountains  which  extends  to  the  west- 
ward of  the  Rockies  and  has  the  same  general  trend.  It 
consists  of  cretaceous  rock,  rising  into  very  high  peaks  in 
some  places,  and  crosses  the  Yukon  River  just  below  the 
boundary.  The  ore-bearing  rocks  crop  out  at  intervals  on 
the  hills,  being  covered  up  in  between  by  thousands  of  feet 
of  sedimentary  shales,  the  peculiar  formation  being  due  to 
a  tremendous  crumpling  up  of  the  whole  region  in  some 
ancient  epoch. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  Klondike  Creek,  and  opposite 
Dawson,  a  tunnel  has  been  driven  into  a  wide  body  of  ore 
in  the  rocks,  which  is  said  to  assay  thirty-six  dollars  in  gold 
and  eighteen  dollars  in  silver  to  the  ton.  On  the  trail  from 
Circle  City  to  Birch  Creek  is  a  quartz  vein  ten  feet  wide 


540  MINES   ON   DOUGLAS   ISLAND 

that  shows  much  free  gold.     On  Deadwood  Creek,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Birch  Creek,  is  a  wide  vein  ricli  in  silver. 

So  far  as  any  tests  of  importance  have  been  made,  there 
can  be  little  donbt  of  the  existence  of  a  great  belt  of  ore, 
and  some  rich  specimens  have  been  reported.  The  Cana- 
dian surveyor  who  made  a  test  of  a  specimen  taken  from  a 
claim  on  Gold  Bottom  Creek  said  of  it : 

"  I  had  no  sieve  and  had  to  employ  a  hand  mortar, 
which  those  who  know  anything  of  the  work  will  under- 
stand would  not  give  the  best  results.  The  poorest  result 
obtained,  however,  was  one  hundred  dollars  to  the  ton, 
while  the  richest  was  one  thousand  dollars.  Of  course,  I 
do  not  know  what  the  extent  of  the  claim  is,  but  the  man 
who  found  it  said  that  from  the  rock  exposed  the  deposit 
must  be  considerable  in  extent." 

The  credit  for  the  first  quartz  discovery  in  the  Klondike 
seems  to  belong  to  one  W.  Oler.  On  December  15th  he 
found  a  well-defined  ledge  of  gold-bearing  quartz  on  Hunker 
Creek,  just  above  Last  Chance.  It  was  of  pure  white,  re- 
sembling the  rose  quartz  of  California,  and  the  ledge  aver- 
aged seven  feet  wide  on  the  croppings.  Crude  assays  of  the 
quartz  showed  free  gold,  and  a  half  interest  in  the  claim 
was  purchased  by  Ladue  for  eight  thousand  dollai's.  Oler 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  quartz  experts  on  the 
Yukon. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  large  stamp 
mills  on  Douglas  Island  opposite  Juneau.  Several  other 
mines  in  that  vicinity  are  being  successfully  worked  by 
capital.  Indeed,  it  requires  capital,  for  while  the  ledge 
of  gold-bearing  rock  stretches  for  many  miles  the  ore  is  of 
low  grade.  With  capital  these  mines  in  1897  produced 
almost  as  much  gold  as  the  Klondike  placers. 


THE   COOK   INLET  DISTRICT  541 

Nearly  all  the  mining  in  western  Alaska  thus  far  is  at 
Cook  Inlet,  Prince  William  Sound,  and  Unga  Island.  At 
Unga  there  are  a  number  of  quartz  mines,  one  of  which,  the 
Apollo  Consolidated,  has  a  development  of  about  eight 
hundred  feet,  and  forty  stamps  at  work.  In  1896  it 
crushed  about  forty  one  thousand  tons  and  produced  over 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  bullion.  It  is 
now  shipjjing  about  thirty  thousand  dollars  a  month  to  San 
Francisco.  The  island  is  but  one  of  that  great  group  whicli 
stretches  for  such  a  distance  into  the  Pacific,  and  scarcely 
any  prospecting  has  been  done  upon  them,  though  there 
are  many  indications  that  they  are  nearly  all  of  the  same 
formation.  For  anything  that  may  l^e  known,  all  these 
islands  may  be  rich  in  gold. 

Actual  ojjerations  have  been  largely  confined  to  the 
districts  known  as  Cook's  Inlet  and  Prince  AVilliani  St)iiiid, 
into  which  flows  the  Copper  River.  The  country  about 
Cook  Inlet  is  not  develoiDed  yet,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to 
say  how  rich  it  may  be.  So  far,  while  no  very  rich  placer 
claims  have  been  reported,  many  are  paying  well.  Mills 
Creek  is  reported  to  be  the  best.  One  company  located 
there,  working  twenty  men,  averaged  one  thousand  dollars 
a  day  for  the  season  of  1897.  The  season  lasts  for  not  mova 
than  four  months.  There  were  only  about  forty  men  win- 
tering at  Sunrise  City,  and  thirty  at  Cook  City,  and  they 
had  provisions  for  three  years,  so  that  they  possessed  some 
advantages  which  were  lacking  in  the  Yukon  districts. 

A  man  who  has  been  at  Sunrise  City  for  two  years  tells 
me  that  the  miners  have  not  really  commenced  on  the  (^)ok 
Inlet  district  yet.  It  requires  a  whole  season  to  fully  pros- 
pect a  claim.  Some  men  work  a  while  witlioul  nviiino- 
anything,  and  then  go  away  in-onouneiug  the  place  ol"  no 


542  FORTUNE    SMILED    AT    LAST 

value.  But  one  fellow  illustrated  the  wisdom  of  staying 
a  little  longer,  lie  had  five  hinidred  dollars  when  he  ar- 
rived at  the  Inlet,  and  went  to  work  on  Lynx  Creek.  He 
took  out  about  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  day  to  the  man, 
and  was  drawing  on  his  capital  to  pay  his  help  at  the  rate 
of  four  'dollars  a  day  per  man.  When  his  money  was 
nearly  all  gone  the  men  stopped  work  and  pulled  away, 
saying  there  was  no  gold  there  and  that  the  poor  fellow 
had  lost  his  capital.  One  day,  however,  he  came  to  town 
with  a  sack  of  one  thousand  dollars,  wdiich  he  had  taken 
out  in  a  week,  and  he  took  one  thousand  a  week  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  season. 

Only  two  streams  and  their  tributaries  have  ever  been 
mined  —  Six  ^Alile  River  and  Resurrection  Creek.  The 
tributaries  of  the  former  which  are  paying  are  Cahon^ 
Mills,  a  tributary  of  Caiion,  and  Gulch  creeks. 

Some  mining  is  being  done  all  along  the  banks  of  Six 
Mile  River,  which  is  a  big  stream  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  feet  wide  at  Sunrise  City,  with  a  rapid  current.  There 
is  gold  in  its  bed,  but  on  account  of  its  size  and  the  current 
it  is  not  an  easy  stream  to  work,  so  most  of  the  miners  keep 
to  the  gulches.  There  are  places  where  Six  Mile  River 
might  be  turned  from  its  course  at  a  small  expense,  and  the 
exposed  bed  should  furnish  rich  ground  for  extensive  work. 
Large  companies  have  organized  to  develop  this  district  on 
an  extensive  scale. 

One  report  states  that  the  best  paying  property  is  on 
Crranite  Gulch,  a  tributary  of  Six  Mile,  but  no  one  has  yet 
seen  bed-rock  there.  The  tributaries  of  Resurrection 
Creek  which  are  paying  are  Bear  and  Palmer,  but  the  gold 
on  the  former  is  w^orth  only  about  fourteen  dollars  and  forty 


THE  COPPER  RIVER  COUNTRY  54o 

cents  per  ounce,  while  that  on  the  other  is  worth  about  six- 
teen dollars. 

Right  across  Turnagain  Arm  is  Burt  Creek,  which  was 
the  scene  of  a  rush  during  the  season  of  1897.  It  is  not 
thoroughly  prospected,  but  it  is  reported  that  a  man  took 
out  pans  of  from  eighty  cents  to  one  dollar  and  twenty 
cents  right  on  the  surface. 

There  is  one  good  thing  about  the  Cook  Inlet  country 
—  it  is  a  comparatively  cheap  place  in  which  to  live.  It 
costs  but  about  one  hundred  dollars  to  build  a  cabin,  and 
provisions  cost  very  little  more  than  at  ports  of  the  United 
States.  Freight  rates  from  Seattle  are  only  about  half  a 
cent  a  pound,  which  is  very  different  from  the  rates  to  the 
upper  Yukon. 

On  Prince  William  Sound  is  what  is  commonly  known 
as  the  Copper  River  country.  Some  copper  ore  ledges  of 
great  size  have  been  found  on  Fidalgo  Bay  and  Latouche 
Island.  Some  of  the  ledges  are  said  to  be  fifty  feet  wide 
and  to  carry  copper  sulphides  assaying  from  twenty  to  fifty 
per  cent,  of  copper,  but  little  gold. 

Where  there  is  any  placer  gold  on  Copper  River  re- 
mains to  be  seen.  It  is  a  very  rough  country  around  the 
mouth,  and  the  men  who  have  been  up  the  river  far  are 
hard  to  find.  Those  who  have  been  up  a  little  distance 
claim  that  for  the  first  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  the 
gold  to  be  found  is  too  fine  to  pay  for  getting  out,  but  that 
beyond  there  are  placers  which  will  rival  tlie  Klondike. 
This,  however,  must  be  partly  guesswork,  until  more  pros- 
pecting has  been  done. 

From  letters  received,  liowever,  from  a  party  which 

went  on  a  prospecting  trip  in  the  summer  of  1807,  very 

rich  gold  fields  arc  a  possibility  of  the  upper  river.     One 
32 


544  MARVELOUS   MINERAL  RESOURCES 

mciiiber  of  the  ex])cditioii  stated  that  he  had  discovered 
quartz  whieli  yiekled  twenty  dollars  to  the  ton,  and  that 
the  streak  was  a  very  wide  one. 

In  the  fall  of  18!) 7  there  were  about  two  hundred  pros- 
pectors at  Orca  and  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  the  Cop- 
per Kiver,  awaiting  a  favorable  opportunity  to  advance 
towards  the  headwatei-s.  One  of  the  men  who  had  been 
to  a  point  about  fifty  miles  up  the  river  heard  of  rich  de- 
posits of  gold  which  had  been  found  north  of  Spirit  Moun- 
tain, on  a  tributary  of  the  Chittyna  River,  about  tweity 
miles  from  its  confluence  with  the  Copper.  It  was  said 
that  one  of  the  locators  had  taken  out  sixty  thousand  dol- 
lars the  season  before,  and  that  supplies  had  been  brought 
in  to  the  camp  by  men  avIio  had  kept  the  discovery  secret. 
There  were  all  sorts  of  stories  about  these  diggings,  which, 
it  was  said,  would  rival  those  of  the  Klondike,  but  time 
only  will  prove  the  truth  of  these  assertions. 

Copper  River  is  not  a  good  place  for  a  tenderfoot. 
Forty  miles  up  the  river  are  the  rapids.  The  entrance  to 
the  mouth  of  the  river  is  very  difficult,  and  can  be  made 
only  by  those  who  know  the  roundabout  way  of  getting 
in.  Above  the  rapids  the  river  freezes  over  towards  the 
last  of  October,  and  the  slush  and  snow  make  it  almost  im- 
passable for  any  but  the  strongest  traveler.  By  January 
the  snow  is  likely  to  be  about  twenty  feet  deep  on  level 
places,  and  that  is  the  best  and  most  practicable  month  for 
traveling. 

People  who  have  made  the  journey  up  the  river  at  this 
propitious  time  have  reported  that  the  Indians  are  friendly 
and  that  they  have  marvelous  mineral  resources,  though 
their  implements  are  very  crude.  Their  chief  metal  is 
copper,  wliich  they  have  in  abundance,  as  pure  as'ever  came 


OTHER  POSSIBILITIES  545 

from  a  smelter.  They  also  have  gold  bracelets  and  finger 
ornaments,  but  when  asked  where  they  got  this  gold  they 
are  very  reticent  and  simply  point  mysteriously  towards  the 
northeast. 

There  are  numerous  other  places  in  Alaska  in  which 
gold  has  been  found,  and  many  more  where  it  is  just  as 
likely  to  be  found.  The  Kuskokwim  River  is  one  of  the 
great  streams  of  l^orth  Am£rioa,  but  probably  not  half  a 
dozen  white  men  now  living  have  any  knowledge  of  it  be- 
yond the  Roman  Catholic  mission  at  Oknagamut,  and  cer- 
tainly no  man  who  has  been  heard  of  is  qualified  to  speak 
with  authority  of  the  possibilities  of  the  country  it  traverses, 
so  far  as  mining  is  concerned.  All  that  can  truthfully  be 
said  is  that  on  two  or  three  of  its  bars  "  colors  "  have  been 
found. 

In  the  coast  region  above  the  mouths  of  the  Yukon 
practically  no  prospecting  has  been  done  save  on  the  shore 
of  I^orton  Sound,  and  not  much  even  there.  Silver  has 
been  discovered  on  this  sound,  the  ore  yielding  one  hundred 
and  forty-three  ounces  of  the  white  metal  to  the  ton,  and  a 
ten-stamp  mill  is  kept  thundering.  Gold  has  recently 
been  found  there  in  the  sea-sand.  A  few  years  ago  Lieu- 
tenant Stoney  found  a  few  grains  of  gold  on  bars  of  the 
Burkland  and  Selawik  rivers,  and  Mr.  Miner  Bruce,  in  tlio 
summer  of  1894,  saw  in  the  possession  of  an  Eskimo  iu>ar 
Fort  Morton  an  ounce  of  coarse  gold  said  to  have  been 
washed  from  gravel  of  the  Kowak  River.  Further  tliau 
this  scarcely  anything  is  known.  Tliis  district  also  waits 
the  investigation  of  prospectors. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  possibilities  of  the  Taiiana 
and  Koynkuk  rivers,  each  having  tribnlarics  heading  up 
into  the  same  belt  of  mountains  from  ihe  gn]('h(>s  of  wliirli 


546  PROBLEMS   TO   BE   SOLVED 

gold  lias  been  taken.  This  is  the  story  all  over  the  great 
country. 

So  long  as  the  wealth  is  there  it  will  undoubtedly  be 
secured  in  time,  but  it  will  take  a  long  time  unless  some- 
thing is  done  for  transportation.  Therein  lies  the  key  to 
the  development  of  such  a  country.  Whoever  can  suc- 
cessfully solve  the  problem  of  cheap  transportation  and 
easy  communication  will  not  simply  do  a  great  thing  for 
the  country  but  will  make  millions  of  money.  If  there 
is  coal  in  the  mountains,  and  it  is  asserted  that  there  is, 
others  can  become  rich  in  mining  and  selling  that  great 
article  of  fuel.  The  sale  of  merchandise  cannot  fail  to  be 
IDrofitable.  Indeed,  I  have  heard  of  several  who,  having 
been  in  the  Klondike  regions,  have  said  that,  so  long  as 
merchandise  sold  at  such  high  prices  on  the  Yukon,  they 
would  be  satisfied  with  the  profits  upon  that  business,  let- 
ting those  who  sought  the  gold  take  their  chances.  This 
species  of  speculation  will  be  of  great  advantage  to  the 
country,  for  it  will,  perhaps,  insure  the  workers  in  various 
placers  the  supply  of  food  needed  to  take  them  tlu'ough  an 
Arctic  winter. 

Another  requirement  will  be  suitable  points  of  dis- 
tribution. For  example,  Dawson  under  the  present  con- 
ditions can  be  used  as  a  distributing  point  for  only  a  small 
section  —  that  little  section  of  mining  land  about  the  Klon- 
dike. If  those  w^ho  are  prospecting  on  the  Stewart  find 
another  rich  region  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  another  dis- 
tributing point  further  up  the  river.  It  now  takes  so  long 
a  time  to  go  back  and  forth  to  Dawson  for  provisions  that 
little  time  is  left  for  work  in  the  creeks. 

When  these  problems  have  been  solved  there  will  be  a 
new  era  in  the  world.     There  will  no  longer  be  a  com- 


NOT   A  BAD   DEAL  AFTER  ALL  547 

plaint  of  the  scarcity  of  money  if  gold  continues  the  stand- 
ard of  value  and  the  great  means  of  exchange.  The  future 
of  Alaska  may  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  future  of 
society  in  general. 

When  Russia  sold  that  great  country  to  the  United 
States  for  less  than  half  a  cent  an  acre,  it  was  little  dreamed 
that  in  a  year  or  two  a  single  industry  would  pay  the  bill; 
there  was  little  thought  that  the  salmon  industry  would  pay 
it  again;  no  one  but  a  most  extravagant  dreamer  would  have 
dared  to  declare  that  in  a  quarter  of  a  century  it  might  be 
one  of  the  richest  mineral  iields  in  the  world.  When 
W.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  negotiated  the  purchase 
it  was  almost  universally  decried  by  the  politicians  and 
other  wise  people  considered  it  a  l)ad  deal.  Most  Ameri- 
cans thought  they  were  getting  what  Russia  did  not  want, 
and  were  paying  a  big  price  for  it.  The  purchase  was  op- 
probriously  termed  "  Seward's  Folly,"  "  America's  Polar 
Bear  Reserve,"  and  "  The  jSTew  National  Refrigerator." 
But  now  Great  Britain  is  ready  to  dispute  every  inch  of  that 
small  section  of  the  boundary  line  about  which  there  can  be 
any  dispute.  Seward  and  Sumner,  who  supported  the  \n\Y- 
chase,  were  doubtless  even  wiser  than  they  knew,  but  it 
shows  that  the  foresight  and  sagacity  of  some  men  may  be 
vindicated  long  after  they  are  dead 


CHAPTER  XL 

ADVICE  TO  GOLD-SEEKERS  —  THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  HAY- 
ING A  GOOD  OUTFIT  — POINTS  TO  BE  REMEMBERED 
—  WHAT  TO  DO  AND  WHAT  NOT  TO  DO. 

Some  Advantages  in  Not  Being  in  a  Hurry  —  Not  a  Poor  i\Ian's  Country 
,  — Good  Advice  from  a  United  States  Government  Expert  —  A 
Place  for  Strong  Men  and  Those  Who  Can  Afford  to  Lose  — 
Expenses  Which  Have  to  Be  Met  — The  Cost  of  Cabins  and  Facili- 
ties for  AVorkiug  ]\Iines  —  One  Thousand  Dollars  for  Sluice  Boxes 
—  The  Advantage  of  Having  Partners  — Unwise  to  Take  Less 
Than  a  Year's  Outfit  —  Suicide  Cheaper  in  Lower  Latitudes  —  It 
Takes  a  Week  to  Dig  a  Grave  —  Times  When  Every  Man  Looks 
the  Picture  of  Distress  —  Sail  North  Only  in  Good  Vessels  —  How 
to  ^lark  Packages  —  Trunks  an  Inconvenience  —  Sugar  and  Salt  as 
Hard  as  Quartz  —  Tobacco  as  Good  as  Money  on  the  Yukon  —  As 
to  Furs  —  Shot  Guns  Better  Than  Revolvers  —  Jack  Dalton's  Rules 
for  the  Trail  —  Possibilities  of  Losing  a  Toe  or  a  Foot. 

NOTWITHSTAXDIXG  the  richness  of  Alaska  and 
the  belief  that  a  great  future  lies  before  it,  no  bet- 
ter advice,  it  seems  to  me,  can  be  offered  any  one 
in  search  of  a  fortune  than  to  stay  away  from  Alaska, 
and  especially  the  upper  Yukon,  for  the  present.  There 
will  be  time  enough  to  secure  some  of  the  gold  in  the 
country  when  better  and  safer  means  of  communication 
and  ways  of  living  are  provided.  That  may  not  be  long 
lience.  Already  steps  have  been  taken  to  greatly  miti- 
gate the  difficulties  of  the  passes,  but  these  passes  are 
only  the  Ix'ginning  of  difficulties.     At  present,  a  trip  to 

(548) 


THE   PLACE   FOR  CAPITAL  549 

Alaska  witli  the  intention  of  staying  there  a  year  or  more 
is  a  great  risk  for  any  man,  and  for  the  poor  man  who  knows 
nothing  abont  placer  mining,  and  has  a  family  depending 
upon  him,  it  would  be  almost  criminal  to  put  a  large  amount 
of  money  into  an  Arctic  outfit  and  make  the  attempt. 
Such  a  man  would  have  about  as  good  a  chance  to  make  a 
fortune  by  staking  all  that  his  outfit  cost  him  on  the 
gambling  table  at  once. 

Alaska  placers,  I  have  no  doubt,  offer  better  oppor- 
tunities than  most  other  gold-fields.  But  only  prospectors 
and  capitalists  who  can  lose  without  being  badly  damaged 
should  go  there  until  more  is  known.  I  cordially  indorse 
the  advice  given  by  Mr.  Samuel  C.  Dunham,  the  expert  sent 
into  the  Yukon  country  to  report  for  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Labor.  He  said,  in  Dawson,  after  studying 
the  Klondike :  "  The  poor  man  should  not  be  encouraged 
to  come  here.  ISTo  man  should  think  of  coming  who  cannot 
bring  with  him  at  least  a  ton  of  food  and  at  least  one  thou- 
sand dollars  in  cash,  and  who  cannot  lose  a  year  of  his  labor, 
his  ton  of  food,  and  his  thousand  of  cash  without  wre(;king 
his  family  or  imperiling  his  life  scheme.  Neither  should 
the  weak  man  be  encouraged  to  come  here.  Only  the 
strong,  healthy  man,  capable  of  enduring  the  utmost  hard- 
ship and  the  severest  toil,  is  adapted  to  this  region.  For 
the  prospector  who  is  strong,  and  who  has  the  degree  of  in- 
dependence I  have  suggested,  this  land  affords  excellent 
opportunities;  and  for  capital  I  know  of  no  ])lace  tliat  holds 
out  better  chances." 

In  a  previous  chapter  I  have  said  that  no  one  could 
afford  to  go  to  Alaska  or  to  the  Klondike  and  mine  a  year 
for  less  than  three  thousand  dollars.  Yet  some  seem  to 
think  that  an  outfit  costing  something  like  four  lniii(li'c(l 


OOO  NECESSARY    EXPENSES   OF   MINING 

dollars  is  about  all  that  is  necessary.  Possibly,  a  little  more 
sjieeitic  information  as  to  some  of  the  essential  expenses  of 
mining  would  enable  intending  gold-seekers  to  advise  them- 
selves. We  will  assume  that  a  man  has  gone  to  the  Klon- 
dike successfully  on  about  five  hundred  dollars,  that  is, 
tliat  he  has  taken  in  a  year's  outfit  without  losing  it,  and  has 
])aid  the  necessary  charges  in  getting  it  there  by  any  of  the 
routes.  We  will  assume  also  that  he  has  located  a  claim  in 
some  district  which  promises  to  be  paying  and  that  he  has 
paid  the  charges  incident  thereto,  charges  the  nature  of 
which  have  been  already  explained.  This  is  assuming  that 
he  has  made  a  pretty  successful  beginning,  though  he  knows 
nothing  as  yet  about  the  richness  of  his  claim.  He  has 
simply  arrived  at  the  jioint  where  he  must  endeavor  to  find 
out  how  much  he  can  make  out  of  his  spot  of  frozen  earth. 

The  first  essential  is  to  built  a  cabin  on  his  claim.  The 
cost  of  a  rude  hut  about  ten  by  fourteen  feet  will  be  about 
six  hundred  dollars,  and  this  is  assuming  that  he  will  not 
go  to  the  extravagance  of  using  sawed  lumber.  Having 
his  hut  ready  and  his  outfit  cached,  at  the  beginning  of  win- 
ter he  can  set  about  working  his  claim.  This  requires  both 
labor  and  wood.  If  he  reaches  bed-rock  on  one  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  wood  he  will  be  doing  well.  If  he  finds 
the  pay-streak  the  first  time  he  is  doing  very  well.  If  he 
hires  labor  to  remove  the  dirt  that  is  thawed  out  it  will  cost 
him  about  ten  dollars  a  foot  for  each  shaft  he  sinks. 

The  cost  of  handling  dirt  from  shaft-sinking  to  clean-up 
(labor  bills),  winter  working,  averages  twelve  dollars  a 
cubic  yard.  In  other  words,  by  the  time  he  is  ready  to 
think  about  sluicing  he  has  spent  on  his  outfit  and  his  cabin, 
and  for  fuel  and  labor,  not  less  than  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars.     Seventy-two  sets  of  longitudinal  riffles  per 


COST   OF  TOOLS  AND   LABOR  551 

claim  are  used  during  the  summer  season,  as  claims  are  at 
present  worked  in  the  district,  and  these  cost  on  an  average 
five  dollars  a  set.  The  cost  of  sluice-boxes,  riffles  not  in- 
cluded, averages  twenty-five  dollars  a  box.  The  cost  of  set- 
ting a  line  of  sluice-boxes  and  keeping  the  line  set  through 
a  summer  averages  two  thousand  dollars. 

The  cost  of  building  a  rough  dam  sufficient  for  the  or- 
dinary working  of  the  average  five-hundred-foot  claim  in 
the  Klondike  division  is  about  one  thousand  dollars.  The 
cost  of  constructing  a  waste-ditch  on  claim  Xo.  30,  El- 
dorado Creek,  was  about  one  thousand  two  hundred  dol- 
lars.'   It  is  an  average  ditch. 

The  cost  of  handling  the  dirt  (labor  bills),  summer  work- 
ing, from  the  ground-sluicing  to  the  clean-up,  averages  five 
dollars  a  cubic  yard  on  the  entire  quantity  removed.  The 
cost  of  pumping  for  drainage  of  a  summer  pit  four  hundred 
feet  long  by  thirty  feet  wide,  averages  seventy-two  dollars 
for  twenty-four  hours. 

AVheelbarrows  cost  twenty-five  dollars  apiece,  whetlier 
bought  or  made ;  shovels,  three  dollars  and  fifty  cents  apiece ; 
mattocks,  five  dollars  apiece;  blacksmith's  portable  forges, 
about  two  hundred  dollars  apiece;  sluice-forks,  six  dollars 
apiece;  axes,  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents  apiece;  hand-saws, 
five  dollars  and  fifty  cents  apiece;  nails,  forty  cents  a  pound; 
gold-scales  of  average  capacity,  fifty  dollars  a  pair;  ([uick- 
silver,  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  pound;  black 
powder,  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  pound.  These 
prices  are  for  the  supplies  delivered  on  the  claims.  Some 
of  these  articles  may  have  been  taken  in  with  the  original 
outfit. 

These  are  the  main  items  of  expense  to  bo  iiicuri'cd  by 
one  who  wishes  to  become  the  owner  of  a  claim,  who  woi-ks 


C)i>2  IMPORTANT   ADVICE 

it  himself  with  hired  help,  and  who  has  taken  into  the  coun- 
try all  he  wants  to  eat.  In  no  other  way  can  he  expect  to 
make  a  fortune  unless  in  pure  speculation.  He  could  not 
iKH'ome  rich  by  working  at  days'  wages,  though  his  expenses 
would  be  less. 

If  the  dirt  turns  out  to  be  rich  he  will  be  all  right.  If 
it  docs  not  he  will  wish  he  had  never  heard  of  Alaska.  In 
any  case,  the  dirt  must  be  of  exceptional  richness  to  pay 
him  for  such  an  outlay  of  money.  It  cost  Clarence  Berry 
about  twenty-two  thousand  dollars  to  take  one  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  dollars  out  of  some  of  the  richest  dirt  that 
was  ever  discovered. 

AVith  the  knowledge  of  these  facts  a  man  who  is  intend- 
ing to  go  to  the  Klondike  to  become  rich  can  advise  himself, 
for  he  can  understand  what  it  means  when  I  say  that  a  per- 
son who  knows  nothing  ab'out  mining,  and  has  little  money, 
would  have  as  good  a  chance  of  making  a  fortune  by  put- 
ting it  at  once  upon  a  gambling  table. 

Still,  the  gold  is  there,  and  millions  will  be  made,  and  it 
is  probably  useless  to  advise  against  seeking  to  become  one 
of  the  millionaires.  The  most  important  advice  to  be  im- 
pressed upon  those  who  are  going  to  the  Klondike  or  other 
points  on  the  Yukon  is  have  a  good  partner  and  a  year's 
outfit.  Partners  are  a  necessity  in  Alaskan  travel,  but 
parties  larger  than  three  or  four  do  not  get  along  well  to- 
gether, and  usually  split  up.  A  two-years  outfit  is  safer 
and  better  than  less.  It  is  constructive  suicide  for  one  to  go 
to  the  Klondike  wdth  less  than  one  year's  supply  of  food. 
If  the  men  wdio  are  starting  out  so  gaily  from  comfortable 
homes  could  only  look  ahead  and  see  wdiat  fate  awaits  every 
one  of  them  in  the  way  of  hardships  and  privations  amid 
those  frozen  mountains  and  unspeakably  depressing  gorges 


A   SCENE   ON    CHILCOOT    PASS  553 

and  canons,  tliey  would  not  leave  a  thing  undone  to  insure 
some  greater  degree  of  comfort  and  to  protect  their  lives. 
Suicide  comes  cheaper  in  low  latitudes  than  in  the  frigid 
North,  and  funerals  cost  less.  Consider  that  it  takes  a  week 
to  dig  a  grave  at  Dawson,  and  crape  sells  for  twenty-two  dol- 
lars a  yard. 

If  they  could  stand  where  I  did  not  long  ago,  on  the 
summit  of  Chilkoot  Pass,  and  look  below,  down  through 
the  bald  and  frozen  gorge,  upon  the  camp  fires  of  several 
hundred  haggard,  gold-hungry  men  on  their  way  to  Daw- 
son, they  would  have  some  idea  of  what  going  to  seek  a 
fortune  in  mining  in  the  Arctic  Circle  means.  Used  as  I 
am  to  the  severities  and  grim  hardships  of  life,  that  scene 
at  Chilkoot  Pass  was  very  imju^essive.  I  saw  companies  of 
men  wearily  working  their  way,  in  the  face  of  a  gale  that 
seemed  strong  enough  to  topple  over  the  very  mountain 
peaks,  up  the  rocky,  tortuous  trail  to  the  toj)  of  the  pass. 
Every  man  looked  a  picture  of  distress.  I  know  that  I  did. 
They  all  slept  in  snowbanks,  ate  frozen  canned  food,  and 
risked  a  thousand  mortal  ailments  from  ex]iosure. 

Another  point  to  be  strongly  impressed  upon  those  start- 
ing out  is  that  they  should  sail  northward  only  in  a  first-class 
ship.  Some  of  the  best  vessels  have  had  narrow  escapes 
from  shipwreck,  and  others  have  been  lost.  The  doniaiid 
for  sailing  vessels  has  called  into  the  service  many  on  wliidi 
it  is  unsafe  to  risk  life.  There  are  chances  enongh  for  a 
sudden  death  after  Alaska  is  reacheil  witliunt  iiiciiiTing  any 
more  than  are  necessary  l)efore  disend)arkiiig. 

All  packages  should  be  marked  clearly  with  (iistiiictive 
characters  which  can  be  easily  and  readily  recognized  in 
addition  to  the  name  and  address.  Tin's  will  be  found  very 
scrviceal)le  wlum  a  shi])'s  enlire  cargo  is  diniipcd  on  eillier 


55-1:  HOW   TO   PUT  UP   SUPPLIES 

the  Skagwny  or  Dyca  beach  without  anv  thought  of  the 
owners;  and  wlien  it  is  essential  to  have  them  picked  out  and 
placed  farther  up  on  the  beach  in  a  short  time. 

Take  no  trunks.  They  are  about  as  difficult  to  get  over 
the  passes  as  six-story  buildings.  The  Indians  will  not 
touch  them,  and  they  are  apt  to  make  a  sled  unmanageable. 
N"o  package  of  more  than  a  hundred  pounds  should  be  al- 
lowed, and  the  more  that  can  be  packed  in  bags  the  better. 
Flour  should  be  i)iit  in  fifty-pound  sacks  and  two  of  these 
slipped  into  a  strong  bag.  Oil-skin  sacks  are  a  good  thing 
in  rainy  weather  and  in  shooting  the  rapids,  but  in  cold 
weather  they  often  become  brittle  and  break.  It  will  be 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  reach  the  Yukon  without  hav- 
ing some  of  the  goods  damaged  or  spoiled.  Flour  will  get 
wet,  and  the  best  of  it  will,  very  likely,  have  to  be  dug  out 
from  a  surrounding  layer  of  dough.  Sugar  is  even  more 
difficult  to  handle  successfully  in  wet  weather.  If  a  part 
of  it  gets  damp  the  whole  will  have  a  tendency  to  turn  to 
syrup,  unless  the  weather  is  freezing,  when  it  will  become  as 
hard  as  quartz.  Salt  is  likely  to  be  affected  in  much  the 
same  way. 

Supplies  which  can  be  obtained  in  compressed  form, 
such  as  tea,  are  best  to  take,  for  the  less  bulk  the  better.  I 
have  found  canned  goods  always  serviceable,  though  one 
gets  very  tired  of  them.  Bacon  and  beans  can  be  easily 
managed,  and  generally  constitute  a  staple  article  of  diet. 
If  you  use  tobacco,  take  along  plenty  of  it.  It  is  as  good  as 
money  on  the  Yukon,  better  than  paper  money.  The  In- 
dians will  take  no  money  but  coin. 

As  to  clothing,  the  principal  difference  between  Alaska 
and  a  milder  clime  is  that  the  former  requires  much  heavier 
underclothing.     Too  heavy  outer  garments  only  impede 


SOME  OF  THE  ESSENTIALS  555 

the  movements  of  the  limbs  and  really  do  not  keep  out  the 
wind.  Fur  coats  might  seem  valuable,  and  some  will  say 
that  they  are.  They  are  most  usually  worn  when  people 
are  having  their  pictures  taken  to  send  home  to  their  friends. 
A  good  fur  blanket  or  robe  is,  however,  well-nigh  indis- 
pensable. People  in  Alaska,  as  everywhere  else,  have  dif- 
ferent tastes,  and  in  these  matters  you  will  know  better  how 
to  suit  your  own  after  spending  a  winter  there. 

Take  needles,  thread,  buttons,  comb,  brush,  looking- 
glass,  and  such  other  toilet  and  domestic  articles  as  you 
need;  also  a  ball  of  twine,  sail-needles,  and  wax.  Make  a 
canvas-case  with  pockets  to  hold  these  things  —  one  that 
can  be  rolled  up  and  tied.  Take  also  fishing-tackle  and  shot- 
guns. It  is  a  great  mistake  to  take  anything  except  what  is 
absolutely  necessary  if  the  trip  is  made  overland.  The  jour- 
ney is  long  and  arduous,  and  a  man  should  not  add  one  pound 
of  baggage  to  his  outfit  that  can  be  dispensed  with.  Men 
have  loaded  themselves  up  with  rifles  and  revolvers,  which  is 
entirely  unnecessary.  Kevolvers  will  get  you  into  trouble, 
and  there  is  no  use  of  taking  them  with  you,  as  large  game 
is  rarely  found  on  the  trip.  Persons  who  have  prospected 
through  this  region  for  some  years  have  seen  few  moose. 
You  will  not  now  see  any  large  game  whatever  on  your  trip 
from  Dyea  to  Dawson.      wShot-guns  are  handy  for  geese. 

When  on  the  trail  there  are  a  hundred  little  essentials 
which  can  be  neglected  only  to  the  greatest  discomfort  and 
possible  peril.  Jack  Dalton,  who  is  one  of  the  most  expert 
and  experienced  of  men  in  following  Alaskan  trails,  once 
laid  down  the  following  set  of  rules  for  a  small  party,  and 
they  contain  many  useful  suggestions  tersely  expressed: 

"Establish  camp  rules,  especially  regarding  the  fooil. 
Allot  rations,  those  while  idle  to  be  less  than  when  at  work, 


556  JACK  dalton's  rules  of  the  trail 

and  also  pro  rata  during  heat  and  cold.  Pitch  the  tent  on 
top  of  the  snow,  pushing  the  poles  and  pegs  down  into  it. 
While  some  are  busily  engaged  in  building  a  fire  and  mak- 
ing a  bed,  let  the  best  cook  of  the  party  prepare  the  sup- 
per. If  you  have  no  stove,  build  a  camp  fire,  either  on  an 
exposed  point  of  rock  or  in  a  hole  dug  in  the  snow;  if  you 
have  a  stove,  arrange  it  on  a  "  gridiron  "  inside  the  tent,  the 
gridiron  consisting  of  three  poles  some  six  or  eight  feet  long, 
and  laid  on  the  snow,  on  which  the  stove  is  placed.  The 
heat  from  the  stove  will  soon  melt  a  hole  underneath,  but 
there  will  be  enough  firm  snow  under  the  ends  of  the  poles 
to  hold  it  up.  For  the  bed,  cut  hemlock  brush  and  lay  it  on 
the  snow  to  a  depth  of  a  foot  or  more,  and  cover  this  with  a 
large  square  of  canvas  on  which  blankets  and  robes  are  put. 
When  finished  it  forms  a  natural  spring  bed,  which  will 
offer  grateful  rest  after  hauling  a  sled  all  day.  I»  all  ex- 
cept the  most  sheltered  locations  the  tent  is  necessary  for 
comfort,  and  the  stove  gives  better  satisfaction  than  the 
camp-fire,  and,  as  it  needs  but  little  wood,  is  easier  to  cook 
over,  and  does  not  poison  the  ej^es  wdth  smoke. 

"  There  are  fewer  cases  of  snow-blindness  among  those 
who  use  stoves  than  among  those  who  crowd  around  a  smok- 
ing camp-fire  for  cooking  or  warmth.  Comfort  in  making 
a  trip  of  this  kind  will  depend,  in  a  gTeat  measure,  upon  the 
convenience  of  camping,  suitable  clothing  and  light,  warm 
bedding.  Choose  your  bunk  as  far  from  the  tent  door  as 
possible,  and  keep  a  fire  hole  open  near  your  camp.  If  by 
any  chance  you  are  traveling  across  a  plain  (no  trail)  and  a 
fog  comes  up,  or  a  blinding  snowstorm,  either  of  which  will 
prevent  your  taking  your  bearings,  camp,  and  don't  move 
for  any  one  until  all  is  clear  again. 

"  If  it  is  ever  necessary  to  cache  a  load  of  provisions 


TO    INSURE    PHYSICAL   COMFORT  557 

put  all  articles  next  to  the  gToiind  wbieli  will  be  most  af- 
fected bv  beat,  providing,  at  tbe  same  time,  tbat  dampness 
will  not  afl'ect  tbeir  food  properties  to  any  great  extent. 
After  piling  your  stuff,  load  it  over  carefully  witb  beavy 
rocks.  I'ake  your  compass  bearings  and  also  note  in  your 
pocketbook  some  landmarks  near  by,  and  also  tbe  direction 

in  wliicli  tbey  lie  from  your  cacbe i.  e.,  make  your  caobe, 

if  possible,  come  between  exactly  north  and  south  of  two 
given  prominent  marks,  so  that  you  can  find  it. 

"  Keep  your  furs  in  good  repair.  One  little  slit  may 
cause  you  untold  agony  during  a  march  in  a  heavy  storm. 
You  cannot  tell  when  such  will  be  the  case.  If  your  furs 
get  wet,  dry  them  in  a  medium  temperature.  Don't  hold 
them  near  a  fire.  Keep  your  sleeping  bag  clean.  If  it 
becomes  inhabited,  freeze  the  inhabitants  out.  Keep  all 
your  draw-strings  on  clothing  in  good  repair.  Don't  forget 
to  use  your  goggles  when  the  sun  is  bright  on  snow.  A  fel- 
low is  often  tempted  to  leave  them  oif.  Don't  you  do  it. 
A  little  dry  grass  or  hay  in  the  inside  of  your  mittens,  next 
your  hands,  will  promote  great  heat,  especially  when  it  gets 
damp  from  the  moisture  of  your  hands.  After  the  mittens 
are  removed  from  the  hands,  remove  the  hay  and  dry  it. 
Failing  that,  throw  it  away.  Be  sure,  during  the  winter,  to 
watch  your  footgear  carefully.  Change  wet  stockings  be- 
fore they  freeze  or  vou  may  lose  a  toe  or  foot." 

Remember  that  if  intending  to  build  a  boat  for  travel 
down  the  Yukon  the  start  shoidd  be  early  enough  to  reach 
the  lower  lakes  when  the  ice  goes  out.  Usually  the  lakes 
remains  frozen  until  late  in  May.  The  Lewis  and  the  up- 
per Yukon  open  a  week  to  a  fortnight  earlier.  Last  year 
the  ice  broke  on  Lake  Lebarge  in  the  last  of  AFay,  at  l^aw- 
son  on  the  I7th  of  May,  at  Fort  Yukon  three  days  after- 


558  KEEP  ON   YOUR  OWN   SIDE 

wards,  three  liiiiKlrcd  miles  furtlier  down  on  the  23d  of 
May,  and  at  the  nioutli  somewhat  hiter.  The  first  steamer 
for  the  season  reached  Dawson  on  June  2d,  having  voyaged 
from  winter  quarters  beloAV  Circle  City. 

Uo  not  beguile  yourself  with  the  thought  that  working 
down  the  river  in  open  water  is  at  all  easy.  The  Yukon 
has  as  many  moods  as  a  woman,  and  presents  problems  which 
few  men  are  capable  of  solving  in  a  hurr}^,  and  some  which 
have  to  be  solved  in  a  hurry  or  it  may  be  too  late. 

Finally,  I  would  advise  the  man  on  his  way  to  the  Klon- 
dike to  go  to  some  creek  on  the  American  side  of  that  re- 
gion —  that  is,  unless  he  has  special  reasons  for  going  to  the 
Klondike  to  seek  golden  placers.  I  mean  that  if  he  in- 
tends merely  to  go  as  a  tenderfoot  to  prospect  for  gold,  he 
will  now  stand  about  as  good  a  chance  of  finding  riches  on 
the  American  side  of  the  line  as  on  the  Canadian,  and  he 
will  not  only  avoid  the  impost  duties  of  Canada,  but  he  will 
save  the  rather  expensive  legal  procedure  of  locating  claims 
under  the  Canadian  mining  law^s.  Besides,  most  of  us  who 
have  been  in  the  Klondike  region  think  the  richest  finds 
of  gold  in  the  near  future  will  be  principally  on  the  Ameri- 
can side.  Several  hundred  men  in  Dawson  and  Circle  City 
who  have  vainly  sought  gold  in  the  Klondike  for  months 
have  begun  vigorous  prospecting  on  the  American  side. 
Some  of  them  are  crack  prospectors,  and  that  is  why  we 
need  not  be  surprised  to  hear  of  rich  finds  in  our  own  Alaska 
before  long. 

THE  EXD. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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